ASA News
MedPageToday.com: Tanning ‘Myths’ Targeted by New Salon Group
Medical news service MedPageToday.com, Friday, reported on the American Suntanning Association’s efforts to combat myths about UV exposure, putting anti-tanning lobbyists on the defensive to explain inaccuracies in their allegations about sunbed usage.
“It is time to have a higher-level discussion about UV light from the sun and from sunbeds. The ASA is going to be a constructive party in that discussion, demanding a consumer-first conversation differentiating proper sun care from blatant overstatements about the risks of UV exposure,” ASA president Bart Bonn is quoted as saying.
Finally brought into the discussion: The fact that an often-cited World Health Organization criticism of sunbed usage in fact implicated dermatology’s usage of sunbeds but not commercial salon usage and that almost no one has reported that data correctly.
ASA board members Doug McNabb and Diane Lucas are also quoted in the article, emphasizing the ASA’s focus on combating myths as well as raising salon standards and educating employees and consumers.
“We want to shed some light on that data and make sure people are making decisions on the basis of scientific facts and not on the basis of a newspaper headline or a TV news show,” said McNabb.
