On The Outs with Indoor Tans

On the outs with indoor tans
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Medical experts back limits for young salon patrons

BY ELLEN MITCHELL
Ellen Mitchell is a freelance writer.

August 2, 2005

Before parents worry about their teenager going to a tanning salon, they worry about sex, drugs and rock and roll, according to Suffolk legislator Vivian Fisher.

Fisher (D-East Setauket) wants to do as lawmakers in Nassau County recently did, and add tanning beds to that list of parental concerns.

The American Medical Association, The American Academy of Dermatologists, The National Cancer Institute, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Medical Society of the State of New York all support her stance.

Each year about 30 million people - more than 10 percent of Americans - visit an indoor tanning facility, according to the Indoor Tanning Association, a national trade group representing thousands of indoor tanning facility owners, manufacturers of tanning equipment and distributors. That professional indoor tanning industry employs more than 160,000 people, according to the trade group, and generates more than $5 billion annually, an amount also cited by various medical societies. A sizable chunk of those dollars comes from the estimated 1.5 million teenagers who frequent the salons in their quest for the perfect tan.

Indoor risk vs. outdoor risk

Unfortunately, according to the medical community, too few of those teens - and their parents - realize that the UV rays of indoor tanning constitute as great a danger for later development of skin cancers as does outdoor exposure to the sun's rays.

Young people are not likely to worry much about what could happen years down the road, according to doctors. Too many, they say, are like Alison, 16, a blue-eyed blonde from Nassau County, who works as a lifeguard in summer and maintains her tan in winter with visits to a tanning salon.

"I'm always in the sun, " she said, "but I'm careful about my sun intake. I use sunscreen."

Stephanie Davis, 17, of Middle Island, is dark-haired, brown-eyed, and light-skinned. She and her friends go to the tanning salon prior to summer to "get the color going." Getting a "base tan" requires that she visit the salon two to three times a week for several weeks. She starts with five- or six-minute sessions and builds to 20-minute sessions. She returns from time to time as her tan starts to fade.

Davis is aware of warnings about skin cancer, and she has heard that some places now require written parental permission for teenagers to use the tanning machines.

"I don't worry about it too much," Davis said. "I think [the regulations] are good for younger kids, 14 and 15. But once you're 17 or 18, I think you kind of understand before you go in what the complications can be. You have to wear protective eye shields, and you have some type of lotion on. They have a book that tells you how to do it safely, and the first time you go they explain everything to you.

"It's relaxing," she continued. "You lie there, and they have the music playing."

Faylin Mutch, 21, of Mount Sinai, maintains her "base tan" all year. She has frequented an indoor tanning salon about once a month during the winter and spring since she was 17 and wanted a tan for her junior prom.

"I know people who go much more than I do," said Mutch. "I know it's horrible for you. The bad thing is starting. It's like smoking - once you start, it's hard to stop."

Mutch and her friends go to the dermatologist regularly for skin exams.

1 million new cases a year

According to the American Academy of Dermatology, in 2004 more than 1 million new cases of skin cancer in all age groups were diagnosed in the United States, with about 96,000 of those cases being melanoma, the deadliest form of the disease.

"In the case of skin cancer, we know that ultraviolet light is the culprit," Dr. James M. Spencer, chairman of the department of dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, said at the academy's 2004 meeting in Manhattan. "Research has shown that indoor tanning is dangerous, and there should be laws to protect children from engaging in this activity as there are from other unhealthy behaviors such as drinking and smoking."

The academy has urged that all states prohibit indoor tanning for minors and also has recommended that tanning facilities not use words such as "safe tanning" or "no harmful rays" when advertising their ultraviolet tanning devices.

The World Health Organization takes issue with the popular misconception that skin cancer will result only if a person sunburns repeatedly.

According to a recent WHO report, "there is no evidence that tanning in a bed is any safer than tanning in the sun. In fact, some tanning beds release much stronger UV light than the sun does."

A mother speaks out

Colette Coyne of New Hyde Park, founder of the Colette Coyne Melanoma Awareness Foundation, is devoted to speaking out about the dangers of UV overexposure from any source, particularly for young people. Coyne's daughter, also named Colette, died in 1998 of melanoma at the age of 30.

Although the younger Coyne never went to a tanning salon, she did suffer a blistering sunburn in Florida at age 9 and another bad burn as a teenager. Doctors at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center told the family that Colette's melanoma, which quickly spread throughout her body, could have been triggered by just those two sunburns years earlier.

In April Nassau County unanimously passed The Colette Coyne Skin Cancer Prevention Act. It requires that anyone under 18 have signed parental approval to use a tanning salon and anyone younger than 16 be accompanied by a parent.

Coyne is currently working with Suffolk legislator Fisher to get a similar law in Suffolk, but the issue is bogged down in committee. Legis. Allan Binder (R-Huntington) has proposed his own bill, which would permit those younger than 14 to use the tanning salon if accompanied by a parent. Fisher's bill prohibits those younger than 14 from using the tanning beds.

Binder said he is concerned about a ban because "government shouldn't be telling parents they can't bring their child somewhere, where if it's regulated, it's safe."

There are no regulations regarding teens using tanning salons in New York City.

The tanning industry's view

Dan Humiston, president of the Indoor Tanning Association, said his organization supports parental consent, because there are only a "negligible" number of customers younger than 14 and those younger than 19 represent only 5 percent of clientele.

He added that UV exposure at a tanning salon is constant and regulated, while outdoor sun exposure varies with time of day and weather conditions. Plus, he said, with indoor tanning, you can add "aromatherapy, built-in air conditioning and speaker systems to rival those in most nice cars ... for $6 or $7 a visit" for sessions that run from five to 10 minutes. Longer sessions can run to $11, and many salons offer reduced-rate package deals.