By Lisette Hilton
PALM BEACH, Fla., Feb 06 - It has long been
known that exposure to sunburn-causing ultraviolet light B (UVB) increases the
risk of skin cancer. Now scientists are concluding that ultraviolet light A
(UVA), the sunlight that tans us, increases the risk of melanoma, the most
deadly form of skin cancer. Suntan parlor tanning beds, which deliver about 99 percent
UVA to the skin, present a significant danger to users--even to those who visit
the parlors only 10 times a year.
Dr. Michael J. Franzblau, clinical professor of dermatology at the
University of California, San Francisco, presented scientific evidence of the
dangers associated with tanning parlors and UVA exposure at the recent 43rd
Annual Meeting of the Noah Worcester Dermatological Society.
Franzblau has led the effort to make dermatologists and the public more
aware of the dangers of tanning parlors. He authored a bill in 1988 to regulate
suntan parlors in the state of California and has since conducted several
studies on the topic. His most recent presentation to dermatologists here was a
review of existing literature.
"Scientists at the Brookhaven Lab, which is a high-tech government lab
in New York, have been able to produce melanomas in animal models using
UVA," Franzblau said. "Brookhaven Laboratory's photobiologist, Dr.
Richard Setlow, is convinced that the initiation and promotion of melanoma in
human beings is 95 percent due to UVA."
UVA rays pass through the skin into the tissues that contain
pigment-containing cells, which make melanin. It attacks melanin, which is
benign, and converts it into a photo carcinogen, which can be lethal, according
to Franzblau.
"My concern is that many young people under the age of 30 might not
have the knowledge of this risk," he said. "The industry today is a
$3 billion a year industry and the peak month for usage is in college students
in March because they want to look good when they go the beach during spring
break."
Franzblau also referred to a study published in the American Journal of
Epidemiology in 1994. Researchers found that young women aged 18 to 30 who went
to a suntan parlor 10 times or more a year had seven times the incidence of
melanoma than women who did not go to suntan parlors.
If Franzblau had his way, suntan parlors would be banned. He recommended
that people who continue to go to the tanning beds at least cover themselves
with the right type of sunscreen. "We now emphasize that when you buy
sunscreens, you look for the ingredient Avobenzone, which is the only
FDA-approved block of UVA," he advised.
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