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Jenice Armstrong: Tanning's dark side
ICONFESS. I'm a beauty junkie.
I have been to beauty salons where my hair was straightened to the point it snapped off and I still went back for more "creamy crack," as they call chemical relaxers. I've had acrylic tips applied with the full knowledge that afterward my natural nails would be a hot mess.
I've slathered on all manner of dubious anti-acne and antiaging products, submitted to chemical peels and even once had hot oil dripped over my forehead at a Las Vegas spa. But I ask you, who among us is without fault? What woman hasn't endured a crazy beauty ritual all in the name of vanity? So, although frequenting tanning salons isn't my thing because of all the melanin in my skin, I can relate to why some people feel compelled to frequent them regularly - even if it increases their risk of getting skin cancer.
It's more about what's inside than what's outside. Most of us have preconceived ideas as to how we think we should look. Americans associate bronzed skin with good health and youth. Besides, having a tan is a way to camouflage cellulite and pesky spider veins. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin reportedly had a tanning bed installed in the governor's mansion in Juneau.
But it's time to stop the tanning madness. Tanorexia be damned. It's a wonder that tanning salons are still even legal. They should be required to have signs posted outside their doors saying: "Enter at your own risk." I mean, come on now. What more proof do people need? Experts have suspected for the longest time that the rays from tanning beds are carcinogenic.
Now the link has been made even clearer. I read a report yesterday that ranks tanning beds and the ultraviolet radiation they emit right up there with tobacco, asbestos and plutonium. In other words, they are now considered known cancer risks.
All of this comes from a special committee of the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer that reviewed 20 studies in June and concluded that the risk of skin cancer jumps by an alarming 75 percent if users start frequenting tanning beds before they are 30.
Oddly enough, in Pennsylvania tanning salons are still unregulated. There's a bill before the state Legislature, though, that would prohibit children younger than 14 from using tanning beds without a doctor's permission. (Who even knew parents bought tanning sessions for their teeny-boppers? What do they do, cut the Hannah Montana-themed birthday cake and then take everyone to tan as part of their sleepover activities?)
If the bill is passed, teens under 18 would have to be accompanied by a parent to visit a tanning salon. Also, facilities would have to be licensed and post signs alerting customers to possible health risks.
If this law is passed, it won't come a moment too soon. Because there's not a beauty ritual out there worth dying over.
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