Growing up in Hawaii there was never a need for me to visit a tanning salon. However, upon moving to Wisconsin I found that fake baking is a popular pastime that is often shared between mothers and daughters. Who knew that mother-daughter bonding could be so dangerous?
Sorry simulated sun worshippers, I have some very bad news for you: International cancer experts have moved tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation into the top cancer risk category, deeming them as deadly as arsenic and mustard gas.
There’s nothing quite like allowing your kids to be exposed to substances akin to mustard gas to make you feel like a proud parent, no?
Sarcasm aside, tanning bed dangers are a serious topic to those in the medical community. According to a new analysis of about 20 studies, the risk of skin cancer jumps by 75 percent when people start using tanning beds before age 30. Researchers say they also found that all types of ultraviolet radiation caused disturbing mutations in mice, proof, experts say, that radiation is carcinogenic. Previously, only one type of ultraviolet radiation was thought to be lethal and therefore for years scientists categorized tanning beds and ultraviolet radiation as merely “probable carcinogens.” This new classification means tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation are definite causes of cancer, alongside tobacco, and chimney sweeping, among others.
Given the new findings, experts at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (the cancer arm of the World Health Organization) have issued a stern warning to parents who allow their children to frequent tanning salons: “You need to be reminded of the risks of sunbeds and teach your teens that they don’t need to use sunbeds to get a tan.”
As a mother and former tanorexic, I realize how difficult it may be to convince your tan-obsessed teen that getting bronzed via canned ultraviolet radiation is not a good idea. Subsequently, might I suggest using scare tactics? Inform your son or daughter that previous studies found younger people who regularly use tanning beds are eight times more likely to get melanoma than people who have never used them. Then, take your teen to your local discount store and purchase a cart full of bronzing or self-tanning creams.
Do your teens fake bake?
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