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PiscesLaws Don't Discourage Tanning Teens
Teen tanning laws meant to protect our kids from skin cancer are being virtually ignored, a new study found.
In the Archives of Dermatology this week, a new study found that researchers posing as 15-year-olds who had never tanned could, over the phone, get permission to tan at a few salons across the country without parental consent -- even though 90 percent of salons supposedly require parental consent.
Researchers also found that at most salons they called, they could begin tanning more often than the government recommendation of three times a week. In 71 percent of the facilities, the researchers posing as 15-year-olds were told they could tan every day right away, despite the risks of melanoma and other skin cancers.
On GMA this morning, 24-year-old Brittany Zele, whose mother gave her permission to tan at age 14, called for a tanning bed ban for minors. Zele was diagnosed with melanoma at age 19.
"[I'm] fully for it," she said. "You can't smoke until you're 18, drink until you're 21, it's really the same thing. I think that law would be great. I wish it would pass. If that was a law when I was younger, I don't think I would have ended up with melanoma."
International cancer experts have moved tanning beds and ultraviolet radiation into the top cancer risk category, deeming both to be as deadly as arsenic and mustard gas.
Yet in the largest U.S. cities, the number of indoor tanning salons was higher than that of Starbucks or McDonald's, and 2.3 million teens visit tanning salons across the country every year.
Do you think tanning beds should be banned for minors? Comment below.
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- 4 Comments
Will you be banning them from the sun as well?
“I wish it would pass. If that was a law when I was younger, I don’t think I would have ended up with melanoma.”
Did you not know the risks before you put your body into that machine time after time? If they where banned and you decided to just eat junk food all day and ended up with diabetes would you blame that on the people that did not ban you from junk food?
It seems you have more a problem with the enforcement of the tanning rules and not to mention following those rules could have helped you protect yourself from skin disease as well. As the author said you should be limited to 3 times a week and need a note from your mother, i take it you broke those rules time after time and now you want to end tanning for the kids that can be responsible about tanning.
I just read a story in Cosmo about another teen who used the tanning bed and worked as a lifeguard all during her teen years and never used anything higher than 4 spf. She found out at 22 that she had skin cancer and died at 26 from it. It’s very sad but I thought everyone knew by now that too much sun exposure wasn’t good for you. Even if teenagers don’t know, thier parents should.
Chris - it seems that way, but there are too many people who believe the “risks of UV exposure are overhyped and it isn’t that bad” yada yada yada. My MIL is one of them. Was all over me to tan before her son and my wedding so “you won’t be a pale bride”. WTF? I’m Irish and look it - pale, freckles, red hair! I’ve also had three moles removed, one of which tested positive for “precancerous cells”. But I should subject myself to more? Hah!
Will you be banning them from the sun as well?
“I wish it would pass. If that was a law when I was younger, I don’t think I would have ended up with melanoma.”
Did you not know the risks before you put your body into that machine time after time? If they where banned and you decided to just eat junk food all day and ended up with diabetes would you blame that on the people that did not ban you from junk food?
It seems you have more a problem with the enforcement of the tanning rules and not to mention following those rules could have helped you protect yourself from skin disease as well. As the author said you should be limited to 3 times a week and need a note from your mother, i take it you broke those rules time after time and now you want to end tanning for the kids that can be responsible about tanning.