The risks of indoor tanning during Prom season

Prom season is almost here and with that comes May, National Melanoma Awareness month. The quest to find that perfect look for Prom often begins in an indoor tanning booth. High school girls tan because they are motivated by peer pressure and social media to look attractive. People associate a tan with being fit, healthy and feeling good, when in actuality, a tan is your skin’s response to injury from the sun. Exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays while either indoor or outdoor tanning can cause skin cancer, including melanoma, which is the deadliest form of skin cancer. Indoor tanning is thought to be less harmful because it is time limited, but it is designed to give higher levels of UV radiation in a shorter period of time, in some instances up to three to six times that of the sun. It is also believed that indoor tanning provides that “base tan” that somehow protects skin from the burning rays of the sun, but it only confers protection equal to an SPF of 3. Some believe that they are getting vitamin D through indoor tanning, but the amounts are difficult to measure and the safest way to get vitamin D is through your diet. In terms of more immediate health effects, it is estimated that 3200 people a year go to the emergency room with some form of skin or eye injury from indoor tanning.

Studies show that cumulative lifetime exposure to UV radiation is linked to overall lifetime risk for skin cancer. That is why UV radiation exposure through intentional tanning in the teenage years puts them at great risk of developing skin cancer, especially melanoma which is now the second leading cause of cancer in young adults aged 15-29. A recent study from the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that 97% of the women in in the study who were diagnosed with melanoma before the age of thirty reported prior use of indoor tanning facilities. And when do these women start tanning? The CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey of 2015 indicated that 15% of high school girls begin their foray into indoor tanning during their high school years. What can be done to help prevent this?

Skin cancer can be prevented if people protect themselves from the damaging effects of UV radiation. Limiting and reducing UV exposure from the sun can be a challenge, but exposure to UV rays from indoor tanning is completely avoidable. The Surgeon General’s 2014 Call to Action report established skin cancer as a national priority and called for tighter control over indoor tanning as a strategy to prevent skin cancer. Here in Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Baker signed legislation in 2016 limiting the use of indoor tanning facilities to people under 18 years of age without parental consent, making Massachusetts the 12th state to prohibit minors from indoor tanning. The normative belief that tan skin is beautiful skin has to change, but policy and legislation is not enough. Parents and teachers of young adults need to educate them about the dangers of indoor tanning. There is a lot of pressure for high school students to tan around social events, so talk to the teen in your life about alternatives such as sunless tanning sprays and lotions or better yet, just liking the skin they are in. Here, and ounce of prevention can provide a lifetime of cure!

Lisa DiBurro BSN, RN

FNP student UMass Lowell