Collegiate Times

Days are progressively getting colder. Winter?s grimness is slowly approaching. The sun sets at an early 5 p.m. and our summer-bronzed skin has faded and reverted to the white of the snow soon to come. For many students this means accepting the skin?s natural tendency to lose its tan, but for others it means substituting the sun for an indoor coffin to maintain their summer tint they have worked so hard to create.

But why use a tanning bed, when the sun charges nothing? When 20 minutes in a bed equates to a day at the beach, students are enticed by the convenience and ease.

"I use the tanning bed when I want to look tan for an event. Using 12 minutes of my day to get a tan that takes me a good one or two days in the sun is well worth it," says Kristin Sagona, a sophomore business major.

In an American Academy of Dermatology survey, more than 80 percent of people aged 25 and younger said they looked better with a tan, and it is estimated that a whopping 28 million Americans are tanning indoors annually at about 25,000 tanning salons across the country.

But only in the past decades has this tan complexion become so appealing to the masses. In the 19th century and earlier, being pale was extremely desirable, because it defined your place in society.

All that changed in the 1920s, when the designer Coco Chanel returned from a vacation to the French Riviera with a deep tan and started a new fashion craze. Suddenly, tans were badges of the rich.

Hawa Amani, a senior finance major, refers to tanning as a form of pampering herself, and although she recognizes its harmful power, she said, "I limit the use of tanning beds to winter, after I have lost my summer tan. I find that being tan is more attractive."

Every year more than 1 million are diagnosed with skin cancer in the United States. And while many of us recognize that tanning leads to cancer, we still continue to harbor the misconception that a tan is a sign of health.

But just how harmful are tanning beds? It?s indisputable. We all know tanning indoors is risky. We are warned of the danger of Ultraviolet (UV) rays and people are encouraged to avoid tanning in general. So why are people still flocking to tanning beds? Simply put, people are completely willing to do things they know are bad for them ? cigarette smoking sound familiar? However, the effects do much more harm than we seem to know.

"I know that tanning carries risks like skin cancer, but I don?t plan on doing it forever. With all the damaging things I've been doing to my body in college, tanning is the least of my worries," said Beth Tara, senior human nutrition, food and exercise major.

The two types of ultraviolet radiation are Ultraviolet A (UVA) and Ultraviolet B (UVB), according to the American Academy of Dermatology. UVB has long been associated with sunburn while UVA has been recognized as a deeper penetrating radiation that causes more damage. UVA rays that are emitted from the light sources in tanning salons are two to three times more powerful than the UVA rays that occur naturally from the sun.

Indoor tanning exposure produces cell damage in the skin that potentially can lead to skin cancer, and malignant melanoma, the most dangerous form, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. UV radiation can have a damaging effect on the immune system and cause premature aging of the skin, giving it a wrinkled, leathery appearance. And too much UV radiation can damage the cornea.

Although tanning indoors has shown to have higher emissions of UVA rays, both indoor and outdoor tanning are equally harmful, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. However, there are preventative steps people can take outside to avoid over exposure unlike indoor tanning.

Sunscreens can reduce the harmful effects of the sun, along with limiting sun exposure and wearing protective clothing, such as a hat.

Brittany Patterson, a senior business major, just returned from a weekend convention in Nashville, Tenn., where she was informed of new practices and new state of the art tanning beds. This past summer she and her mother opened up the Mount Vernon Tanning Spa in Alexandria, Va. The spa has been quite a success, she says, with over 200 clients, and although the spa offers impressive treatments, such as botox and facials, she said "most of the success is due to (the) new high tech tanning beds which do not emit any UVB rays." The beds cost well over $15,000 and are imported from Germany.

Most salons do not have the budget to purchase such beds, because of their price, but Patterson said "it is part of our business? mission to inform clients and provide the best and safest types of tanning beds."

Although the government regulates tanning bed bulbs to 10 percent UVB, most customers are not informed of this percentage at the tanning salon, and the tanning beds that emit no UVB rays are safe and proven to be extremely successful.

As a result of the tanning trend, Blacksburg indoor tanning businesses are also profiting as students make visits to tanning salons a weekly ritual. There are eight tanning salons just in the city of Blacksburg, enticing Virginia Tech students with their specials, such as downtown?s very own Tan?n Tone.

Customers are notified of the possible dangers of tanning by signing a client release form, and cannot enter a tanning bed without protective eyewear. Total Tan does not offer UV-free tanning, but it is promoted at the salon in Christiansburg. This safe practice is quick, involving about a 30-second application with instant results. It involves the active ingredient dihydroxyacetone (DHA), which is responsible for the change in skin tone.

Using UV-free tanning and sunless tanning lotions are very smart decisions when obtaining a tan. But if you decide indoor tanning is vital, then educate yourself on what your skin can handle to avoid burning. Always wear goggles. Inquire within your salon on the UVB percentage. If the staff isn't educated on safe tanning practices, you could be putting your skin at a very high risk.