Get a Killer Tan Tuesday, April 03, 2012 By Co-Editor Sydnie Holzfaster Co-Editor Sydnie Holzfaster - Advertising With Prom less than two weeks away most girls at CHS are scheduling appointments to get their hair and nails done, but there is one appointment that could cost these girls their lives. According to the National Skin Cancer Foundation (NSCF), it is estimated that in the United States 30 million people will use indoor tanning beds each year, and roughly 71% of them will be women and girls ages 16-29. To me tanning beds just don’t seem very pleasant. I don’t want to lay in a claustrophobic metal box and let fake UV rays saturate my skin. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), tanning beds are the leading cause of skin cancer, and have the capacity to cause severe damage to your eyes by causing the formation of cataracts, as well as lead to the suppression of your immune system. In addition to being hazardous to your health, artificial tanning can also be harmful to your wallet. I don’t know why anyone would spend $50 a month to go tanning when they could just go outside and enjoy the sunshine for free, and as an added bonus the natural light from the sun provides a healthy dose of vitamin D. I am not saying that you can’t get skin cancer by soaking up the sunlight, but you are much less likely to contract skin cancer by being out in the sun than laying in a tanning bed. According to the NSCF, people that use tanning beds on average are 74% more likely to develop skin cancer than those who do not use artificial tanning. I understand how tanning beds can appear enticing. You can be evenly tan and healthy looking in practically no time, with no effort, but tanning lamps can be extremely harmful to your health. A majority of tanning salons do not post any warning of the side effects of tanning beds, so before you jump into a tanning bed think twice...it just might save your life.

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