The Canadian Cancer Society in B.C. and Yukon is pushing for a ban on teens using tanning salons.
The organization is leading the push for the ban less than a month after a National Sun Survey revealed that more than 40 per cent of young British Columbians don't use sunscreen.
A spokesperson for the Society said suntanning beds increase the risk of skin cancer and cause significant damage to a person's skin. The World Health Organization (WHO), has been outspoken in its belief that tanning beds should be banned to people who are under the age of 18.
Several states in the U.S. and cities in Europe already have a ban in place but some tanning advocates say the move is drastic and unnecessary.
Jaqueline Smith, a manager at Fabutan, a tanning salon franchise in B.C., said a ban robs people of essential health benefits.
"We are more in the business because of the health benefits," she told CTV.ca. "We only use lie-down beds using low-pressure light bulbs which gives the proper dose of vitamin D."
Vitamin D is widely believed to have a number of health benefits, and has helped people suffering from depression.
Fabutan, a company based in Burnaby, B.C., has also been strictly enforcing a policy since March 2007, under which anyone who looks under the age of 18 is carded.
The company's policies for teens are:
- Children under the age of 12 are not allowed to use the beds
- Teens under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a parent. That parent must also sign a consent form
- Teens under the age of 18 must have a parent sign a consent form
All customers are given information on safe tanning practices and must reveal their skin type to a Fabutan employee so that they can determine if tanning puts them at a risk.
Smith said "a small percentage" of the store's clientele are teenagers.
"A ban takes the opportunity for vitamin D away," she said. "You receive 10,000 units of Vitamin D (through tanning). The maximum you can ingest orally is 800, which means you digest 40 to 60 per cent and pass the rest."
Fabutan is part of the International Smart Tan Network, an organization that promotes the health benefits of tanning.
Their beliefs are at odds not only with the Canadian Cancer Society but the Canadian Dermatology Association, which also agrees that sun tanning beds cause more harm than good.
Exposure to UV rays, whether through artificial or natural light, may cause premature aging of the skin, cataracts as well as skin cancer, studies show.
The Canadian Cancer Society said while vitamin D is a health benefit, laying out in the sun is not an effective way for people to receive it.
"You don't need that much exposure to UV rays," the organization says on its website. "A few minutes a day of unprotected sun exposure is usually all that is needed for people to get enough vitamin D. For most people a little sunlight goes a long way. In the fall and winter, a supplement is a much safer and cheaper way to get your vitamin D."
Melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, is the second most common cancer in people between the ages of 15 and 34.
"From a skin cancer prevention point of view, we have work to do," said Sharon Storoschuck, the Canadian Cancer Society's manager of health promotions for B.C. and the Yukon.
"Sun damage builds up over time. People who have had severe sunburn before the age of 18 are at a higher risk of skin cancer," she said in a news release.
