Sources of ultraviolet radiation -- aka tanning beds -- recently vaulted into the top tier (Group 1) of cancer risks, after being considered for years as just "probable" carcinogens, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer. UV sources have joined the "club" of definitive causes of cancer, along side tobacco use, chimney sweeping and the hepatitis B virus.
After analyzing the results of 20 studies, researchers found the risk of skin cancer explodes by 75 percent when adults under age 20 begin using tanning beds. Evidently, the study should come as little surprise to Texas lawmakers who recently passed a law banning children under 16½-years-old from using tanning beds.
Nevertheless, those affiliated with the tanning "industry" dispute any links to cancer, even as physicians have observed a rise in skin cancer cases with the uptick of tanning beds.
Melanoma ranks among the one of the more common types of cancer, alongside lung, breast, prostate, colorectal and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the U.S., according to the National Cancer Institute.
The Lancet Oncology, Vol. 10, No. 8, pp. 751-752, August 2009 Free Full Text Study/Registration Required
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