For the most part, tanning salon employees work on commission, meaning the more tans and lotions they sell, the more they get paid. They try to sell the most expensive tan accelerating lotions, the highest UV intensity beds (which cost more then lower intensity beds), and multi-tan packages so customers are more motivated to tan more often, says Carrillo. "Also, when people would want a spray tan we would recommend that they get a base tan first from the beds, so it 'looked more natural,'" she says.
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They Convince You That If You're Tan, You Won't Burn
Tanning salons will tell a light complexioned person that they should tan indoors before going on vacation as the darker they are, the less likely they will be to burn in the sun. "This is totally false," says Dr. Bank. "While one might be less likely to burn in the sun if they naturally have a dark complexion like Middle Easterners, Hispanics, and African-Americans, someone that has naturally light skin can still burn no matter how many times they have laid in a tanning bed."
"It's a sales tactic," says Carrillo. "Only sunscreen will help you not burn," she says, "but it worked [to sell tanning sessions]!"
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They Lobby for Government Protection
Even though The International Agency for Research on Cancer, an affiliate of the World Health Organization, includes the UV radiation from tanning beds as one of the most dangerous cancer-causing substances (it's right up there with cigarettes and plutonium), there is no federal regulation banning children under the age of 18 from using the beds. Some states, including California and Illinois have recently banned indoor tanning for children under 18. Other states require written parental consent for children between the ages of 14 and 18 to tan, but Carrillo says even that isn't highly enforced.
So why can children under 18 tan? "Part of the problem in this country is that politics is driven by dollars, and the tanning parlor industry has deep pockets to contribute to legislators who vote against bills that would ban minors," says Dr. Bank. There is a powerful lobby out there that has a monetary interest in letting children expose themselves to this extremely dangerous substance.
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Tanning Beds Can Be a Sweaty Cesspool
Compared to the fact that they can kill you, it might seem minor that many tanning beds are full of bacteria and viruses. But tanning salons don't want you to know just what a petri dish of germs their beds really are. Substances reported to be found: Sweat, pee and semen. "It can get pretty gross in those lay-down beds," says Carrillo. "People would leave and there would be pools of sweat on the bed. I always cleaned the beds well, but some girls weren't as diligent. They would use the same cleaning rags [customer after customer]," she says.
While "the cleaner used is supposed to be anti-virus, I actually got a rash once. I thought my back was breaking out really bad but when I asked my doctor, she told me it was a virus that you can contract from a tanning bed [that hasn't been disinfected]," says Carrillo.
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The Only Safe Tan Is a Spray Tan
Sorry, but the fact of the matter is, a tan is really just cumulative skin damage, says Dr. Bank. "The bottom line -- any time your skin gets darker, it means you've done ultraviolet damage to the skin," he says. "It's ultraviolet damage that stimulates your melanocytes, or pigment-producing cells, to start making more melanin (which is what we view as a tan) in attempt for the skin to protect itself. There is no way around the simple biological fact that if you are darker at the end of the day, you have done some degree of damage to your skin."
And what does "damage to the skin" (aka a tan) translate to? Oh you know, just squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and melanoma -- all technical words for skin cancer. So the doctor says that if you want to be darker, the only way to do it safely is with a spray tan or some self-tanner.
If you've ever set foot in a tanning salon, you've heard the hard sell. They push "tan accelerators" costing up to $90 a pop, a package of tans so your "glow doesn't go," and the promise that tanning beds are a "smarter" choice than baking out at the beach.
And apparently, you don't have to be a dummy to be sold. Approximately 7.8 million adult women and 1.9 million adult men in the United States tan indoors, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.
That's a lot of willing customers allowing a business to knowingly, and quite happily, damage their skin.
So what is this, an alternate universe? What happened to the idea that the beauty industry was one that promoted youth and health? Spending time in a tanning bed practically guarantees you'll eventually deal with skin problems like photo damage, brown spots, fine lines, and wrinkles. Oh and hey, perhaps you've heard about this thing called melanoma, another not-so-lovely side effect of your tanning habit. Yeah, it's a deadly skin cancer that can spread throughout your entire body and kill you. Dead.
So why do Americans continue to subject themselves to the wrath of tanning beds and what are the secrets these tanning salons are keeping from us in order to keep business booming? Read on.
