I think this is my favorite quote from one of the clerks at a salon regarding tanning:
"You need to have it to live."Would probably be funny if so many people didn't believe it (or *want* to believe it) when going to tanning salons. People can do what they want obviously but they really should be aware of the risks and not expect an unbiased opinion from the employees at a tanning salon.
Excerpts from the 7News online article:
In an undercover investigation, 7NEWS Investigators found that tanning salons are not only targeting young women, but some are not telling the truth about the dangers of lying in the beds.
7NEWS Investigators took a hidden camera into area tanning salons and found that some clerks made sales pitches that sound like spending time on a tanning bed is absolutely safe and can actually provide essential health benefits.
Never did the clerks mention the dangers of skin cancer.
"Tanning is completely natural," a tanning clerk said. "You need to have it to live."
"The UVA is going to be safer, just because it's not the burning ray," another clerk said.
"They are all safe. It's all under a controlled environment," a third clerk said.
The sales pitches said tanning indoors is a great thing for someone's body with little risk to his or her health.
"If people frequent tanning salons, they're putting themselves at risk for tremendous UV exposure, which leads to skin cancer and has been proven to lead to skin cancer," said Denver dermatologist Dr. Joel Cohen.
Cohen chairs the education committee for a national surgeons group. He deals with skin cancer and its devastating effects.
"There are decades of research showing that UVB is associated with the formation of skin cancer," Cohen said. "There are newer studies showing that UVA is definitely involved with the formation of melanoma and basal cell carcinoma. And the two in combination is much more damaging."
