FTC Charges Indoor Tanning Association With Making False Safety Claims

by Courtney Dunlop (Subscribe to Courtney Dunlop's posts)
Posted Jan 27th 2010 at 2:15PM

The tanning industry is under fire. Photo: Getty Images

It's about time that America wakes up the the dangers of tanning beds.

Skin cancer now the most common cancer in the country. More than one million cases -- that's one in five Americans -- are diagnosed annually, says the The Skin Cancer Foundation.

Now, the government is finally springing into action, taking a closer look at the industry who claims that sun exposure is healthy. I mean, please!

Last week we reported on the FDA exploring stricter tanning bed regulations and more prominent warnings regarding the link between indoor tanning and skin cancer, which coincides with the proposed 10% tax on tanning beds included in the Health Care Bill.

Now there is a new bill being proposed called the Tanning Bed Cancer Control Act which, if passed, will be a federal stance on regulating the use of tanning beds. The bill proposes a limit on the amount of UV rays emitted by a tanning bed and how long someone can be exposed to them, along with an age limit of over 18.

Texas lawmakers have already explored an indoor tanning age limit as a state regulation, but this bill is taking the matter to the national level.

The age limit angle is based on several studies from the American Academy of Dermatology that found a 75 percent increase in the risk of melanoma in those who had been exposed to UV radiation from indoor tanning before the age of 35.

Of course there is the inevitable outcry from indoor tanning industry folks who claim they're being unfairly targeted and whatnot (cue up world's smallest violin here).

Vice President of the International Smart Tan Alliance Joe Levy told NBC Philadelphia: "In creating the bill Rep. Maloney and Dent [the Congresswoman and Congressman who started the bill] have been duped by the cosmetics industry, chosen to ignore the latest research of UV light and have sided with cosmetic companies who seek to keep all of America out of the sun and covered with sunscreen."

I'm sorry -- duped? Turns out that the only duping here has been committed by the tanning industry.

As of yesterday, January 26, 2010, the Federal Trade Commission charged the Indoor Tanning Association with making false health and safety claims about indoor tanning. According to the FTC press release: "Contrary to claims in the association's advertising, indoor tanning increases the risk of squamous cell and melanoma skin cancers."

"The messages promoted by the indoor tanning industry fly in the face of scientific evidence," said David C. Vladeck, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "The industry needs to do a better job of communicating the risks of tanning to consumers."

Go to the FTC's website to see all the false claims the ITA has been making.

And let's stay out of the tanning beds, ok?

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Filed under: Beauty, News, Skin & Body
Tags: AmericanAcademyOfDermatology, FDA, ftc, indoor tanning, Indoor Tanning Association, IndoorTanning, IndoorTanningAssociation, international smart tan alliance, InternationalSmartTanAlliance, skin cancer, SkinCancer, tanning, tanning beds, tanning tax, TanningBeds, TanningTax

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READER COMMENTS

(7)Add A Comment

Tracie, 1-28-2010, 9:51AM

Gee, talk about a bias. I thought the media was supposed to be fair and balanced. There are about 200,000 jobs in the tanning industry. And, how do you know that those skin cancers you quoted were caused by tanning beds? Did you know that sunscreen has oxybenzone, a known toxin, in it? Oxybenzone gets into our bloodstream and is in 97% of Americans' urine. How's that for cancer-causing? And, did you know that sunscreen manufacturers are the biggest contributor to the Academy of Dermatologists? The sunscreen companies can't say 'sunscreen prevents cancer', because it doesn't, but they can indirectly say that if you don't wear their product you are going to DIE.

Reply »

Benjamin, 1-31-2010, 4:24PM

Agreed! All this hype about the dangers of ultraviolet light (i.e. SUNLIGHT) when
human beings evolved through the Millennia spending their entire springs and
summers out in sun with absolutely no artificial sunscreen whatsoever. The reason for the cancer epidemic is obvious: we evolved eating nutrient dense foods like
organic fruits and vegetables, grass fed meats and fish high in Omega
3s and low in mercury. Now we eat meat from hormone-laden,
antibiotic-laden, corn-fed cows, drink milk so high in artificial
growth hormones it causes girls to hit puberty 5+ years too early,
eat processed food completely void of nutrients, pesticide-laden
fruit and almost no vegetables whatsoever.

This article makes me sick. Human beings are EVOLUTIONARY DESIGNED to
withstand large amounts of SUNLIGHT. The only reason we can stand so
little now is because we have absolutely no antioxidants whatsoever
in our blood stream. A diet rich in antioxidants results in an "internal sunscreen" that prevents sunburn while allowing the body to still produce the Vitamin D it requires via sun exposure.

Do the research people! It'll improve your life tremendously and
could even save it someday.

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Reply »

Benjamin, 1-31-2010, 4:12PM

You really need to check out what Mike Adams has written regarding the "internal sunscreens" offered by antioxidants as well as the statistics regarding vitamin D deficiency.

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Amy Waldrop, 2-02-2010, 11:11AM

There is an abundance of research that suggests that indoor UV tanning exposure poses a significant health risk, particularly to younger individuals. The tobacco industry used the same argument for years...jobs will be lost...a ban will devastate the economy. The reality is that a ban on tanning beds for minors will, in the long run, SAVE the U.S. healthcare system by preventing melanoma and other skin cancer treatments.

When the medical and insurance industry is ready to come out and say that tanning beds are recommended SAFE sources for Vitamin D and other medical treatments and assign insurance reimbursements codes for "prescriptions" to "Beach Babes Tanning Salons" will be the day that the medical industry decides to capitalize on this market and put tanning beds into all of their radiology offices, under the supervision of trained staff. If Derms/plastic surgeons felt that tanning beds were safe for cosmetic reasons...they'd have taken over "Beach Babes" long ago.

Who knows...maybe that's where all of this is headed.

In any event, an un-regulated industry should not be permitted to sell a potentially deadly carcinogenic exposure to our minors for profit.

This is not a case of "sunscreens" versus "tanning beds."

Reply »

Dawn, 2-25-2010, 2:43AM

We own a tanning salon and this is hogwash. I am 43 and have been tanning for years and nothing has happened to me. It's the same old story that physicians are crying about, just like when a first time tanner calls after about a week of tanning and they are starting to get dark, they notice little white spots on their lower back and shoulders, hello wake up people the white spots are not cancer or anthing like that. They are a fungus that grows there from the dander that falls from you hair. Get some antifungal rub it on there for a few days let it go away and continue tanning. OMG! people get a clue will ya, VITAMIN D is good for you and for your skin. For truths and myths about tanning go to www.tanningtruth.com and read it for yourself. Don't let these idiots scare you into not tanning. Austrailian Gold's slogan: TANNING-LOOK GOOD, FEEL GREAT! and I agree.

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Anonymous, 11-09-2011, 6:57AM

TanningTruth is a bunch of biased crap written by a tanning company. After a quick search, I found that Tanningtruth.com is owned by International Smart Tan Network, Inc.. Its really sad some young kids will read it and believe what the site says. When they are 25 and get melanoma and died; or when they are 30 and look 50, they will probably regret it. Also, another factor mentioned on tanningtruth.com about phototherapy, let me explain the "truth"--- dermatologists who perform phototherapy (for psoriasis, eczema) do not perform it as often as a regular tanner visits the tanning salon!! Additionally, the rates for dermatologists using it are decreasing, and has been found that this method is not very good for your skin. This entire website is ludicrous, it shocks me to read all of their lies.

Below is additional information which is useful in proving my case.

"Though any form of ultraviolet light increases skin cancer risk, people younger than 30 who use tanning machines increase their risk of skin cancer by 75%, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is affiliated with the World Health Organization. The melanoma rate among young women nearly tripled from 1973 to 2004, a period in which use of tanning beds increased significantly, a National Cancer Institute study showed."

-This is an article taken from the Academic Search Premier database, from Usatoday.com

Reply »

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