Statement from Ethan Hasbrouck, NJ Director of Advocacy, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, regarding new study linking indoor tanning and cancer.
“Add another scientific study to the pile of evidence that indoor tanning causes cancer. The latest study in BMJ, a British medical journal, links at least 170,000 skin cancers a year to indoor tanning. The body of research justifying a teen tan ban is overwhelming and only continues to grow.
In this latest study, researchers conclude that indoor tanning is associated with a significantly higher risk of skin cancer and the risk is heightened for young people. The researchers also say that their findings add to the large amount of research documenting the dangers of indoor tanning and support reducing exposure to indoor tanning.
The indoor tanning industry falsely touts the health benefits of indoor tanning, while researchers keep producing evidence that indoor tanning poses a serious, sometimes deadly, health hazard.
The World Health Organization (WHO) puts tanning beds in the highest cancer risk category - group 1 - 'carcinogenic to humans.’ That’s the same class as arsenic, asbestos, benzene, dioxin, mustard gas, tobacco smoke and vinyl chloride. According to the WHO, use of tanning beds before the age of 30 increases the risk of melanoma 75 percent.
The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network urges New Jersey lawmakers to enact a ban on indoor tanning for minors as soon as possible.”
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About the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
After months of delay and hard negotiations, Congress has finally passed a funding bill! The bill includes a small increase for cancer research and prevention programs.