http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/2067509.htmlCapital-area tanning salon owners unfazed by cancer study
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By Marissa Lang
mlang@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Jul. 30, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 8B
Despite a new study deeming tanning beds as likely to cause cancer as smoking cigarettes, local tanning salon owners say they're not too worried about business.
"This is normal," said Sue Dickman, owner of Planet Beach Contempo Spa in Sacramento. "It happens every couple of years that this whole thing gets blown out of proportion. But we've still had people coming in all day."
Tanning beds were announced as "carcinogenic to humans" Wednesday by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, affiliated with the World Health Organization. The agency recommended tanning beds be moved into the top cancer risk category, on the same level as cigarettes, plutonium, arsenic and mustard gas.
Investigations into about 20 different studies concluded that all types of ultraviolet rays are harmful, said researchers led by Dr. Fatiha El Ghissaissi, a France-based WHO oncology expert. Researchers found the risk of developing skin melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer – increases 75 percent when a person begins using tanning beds before 30.
But some tanning salon regulars said they knew it was bad for them from the start.
"I probably shouldn't tan as much as I do," said Ashley O'Con, an 18-year-old California State University, Sacramento, freshman from Roseville. "It's an addiction; everyone I know that goes tanning is addicted to it. Right now I don't feel tan because you get used to it, but I know other people think I look really dark."
For many people, societal pressure outweighs science, despite the highly publicized risks.
"It's everywhere; it's in my own household. I'm trying to talk my own teenage daughter out of going tanning," said Catherine Lenz, a physician's assistant at Sutter Medical Group's Midtown Dermatology. "I try to emphasize that you need to be sensible. Your skin is the largest organ on your body, and there are huge risk factors to not wearing sun protection and frequenting tanning beds."
The new categorization means WHO considers tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation to be definite causes of cancer, though not everybody who tans will develop skin cancer.
Because skin cancer rates are usually highest in people over 75, doctors said the rise in the number of skin cancer cases among young people is very disturbing and points to a lack of awareness and understanding about skin health.
"Just because you don't burn doesn't mean you're not doing damage to your skin," said Dr. Philina Lamb, a dermatology specialist at UC Davis Medical Center. "The key is exposure. When people go into tanning salons every couple days, they're just increasing their risk slowly even though they're not burning."
Non-melanoma skin cancers, which are often treatable and not life-threatening, are beginning to show up in younger people, which increases their risk of other cancer and health complications as they get older, WHO and local doctors said.
But local tanning salon owners say they take precautions to prevent their customers from getting overexposed to harmful ultraviolet light.
"We skin-type all of our customers like you would get at a dermatologist's office," said Tom Mattley, owner of three Island Tan salons. "We try to tell everyone to think about it logically; moderation is the key to everything, whether it be tanning or drinking a 12-pack of soda or eating eight cheeseburgers. Everything can be bad for you if you do it in excess."
Tanning salon owners said many of their customers come in for a "base tan," so they won't burn when they go on vacation and spend time in the sun. Overexposure to sunlight is also ranked by WHO as cancer-causing.
Doctors say they are seeing cases in which overexposure to ultraviolet rays has led to other skin problems like blood vessel and tissue damage, sags, wrinkles and collagen depletion, in people in their 20s.
