Tanning

Tanning Is Not Part
of a Healthy Lifestyle

A tan, whether you get it on the beach, in a bed, or through incidental exposure, is bad news, any way you acquire it. Tans are caused by harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun or tanning lamps, and if you have one, you’ve sustained skin cell damage.

No matter what you may hear at tanning salons, the cumulative damage caused by UV radiation can lead to premature skin aging (wrinkles, lax skin, brown spots, and more), as well as skin cancer. Indoor ultraviolet (UV) tanners are 74 percent more likely to develop melanoma than those who have never tanned indoors.

For the real facts about the dangers of tanning and how to get a bronzed glow without risking your health, read the tanning information below or visit our Prevention section.

Featured Story

Appearance Trumps Health as an Anti-Tanning Argument

If you know something is unnecessarily harming your health, and you know ways to prevent it, you’d change what you were doing, right? Learn why traditional educational efforts, with their focus on long-term health issue can have little impact on young people’s risky sun habits and tanning behavior, especially indoor UVR (ultraviolet radiation) tanning.

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Learn More About Tanning

  • Tanning Addiction

    Despite overwhelming evidence linking UV radiation to skin cancer, exposure to the sun and indoor tanning machines continues to increase.

  • Like Mother, Like Daughter

    Young women whose first indoor ultraviolet (UV) tanning experience is with their mothers are more than 4.6 times more likely to become heavy tanners.

  • The Tale of Tanning

    Tanning is a fairly recent trend. Tanned skin is not, nor has it ever been, a universally accepted ideal. Learn the history of tanning.