Published: April 1, 2010

In the recently passed health care bill, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a 10 percent tax on tanning bed operators was implemented. This replaced the proposed tariff on cosmetic surgery (A.K.A. the “botax”) after ardent lobbying from the industry. While the owners of tanning salons would argue that the provision is tacked on, unnecessary and simply an attempt to recoup the money by wringing it from a helpless tanning industry, the negative health effects of tanning salons is an issue that deserves to be brought into the spotlight regardless of the harm caused by cosmetic surgery. According to TIME Magazine, an estimated 2.3 million teenagers enter tanning salons at least once a year, and the tanning business is making a massive $5 billion a year profit. Considering that the ultraviolet radiation used to mimic the rays of the sun, thus causing a tan, is lethal in high doses and dangerous in low ones, America is facing a serious health problem, all for the sake of simply looking more attractive. Exploiting the tanning industry for government profit is a despicable act when the tanning salon should be banned altogether.

In the natural process of tanning, the skin creates melanin, a pigment that darkens its color, in order to block the harmful UV rays from damaging cells. This means that there is no such thing as a “healthy tan” —the process is a response to a damaging outside stimulus. Human skin color is different depending on the amount of sun one’s ancestors were normally exposed to.

The recommended dose of Vitamin D-producing UV radiation for a pale-skinned adult is 10 minutes per day (at high noon sunlight), while a dark-skinned person would require double. Unfortunately, society has, throughout history, respected or discriminated against those of a certain skin color, something that continues today with efforts to obtain healthier-looking skin using tanning beds. The notion that tanning beds are necessary to obtain Vitamin D is simply ridiculous; it can easily be taken in pill form or as part of a multivitamin, without the need to blast skin with UVA or UVB radiation many times more powerful than that of the sun. Not only does broad-spectrum radiation cause skin cancer and melanoma, but it also wrinkles skin over time.

Allowing tanning salons to spring up across America is irresponsible on behalf of the government. To save on health care costs, the overtly unhealthy industry of indoor tanning should be banned from the United States. The culture of tanned pop idols, much like the inclusion of cigarettes in movies, should be curtailed to prevent tanning from becoming culturally acceptable and stop teens from frequenting tanning salons, increasing their melanoma risk by 75 percent. Also, similarly to cigarettes, tanning can produce endorphins, making the process addicting, and, thus, more dangerous, when people come back for more. There is no possible positive outcome of indoor tanning besides the profits of those operating these deadly machines. While regulations banning teens, who are at the highest risk, would only partially solve the problem, the only way to ensure that the American population is safe would be to ban indoor tanning completely.