ASA News

Industry Seeks to Minimize Overexposure, Supports Responsible Tanning

NEW YORK (Oct. 15, 2013) – The professional indoor tanning salon community supports initial reports of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s initiative to increase compliance with New York City rules for professional tanning facilities.

The American Suntanning Association – the nation’s largest association of professional suntanning facilities – reached out to the Mayor’s office today to support his initiative. The tanning community has long been a proponent of enforcing existing laws and is already executing many of the precautions laid out in press accounts of Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal. The salon community will support any city-wide effort to increase compliance with the standards already in place in professional salons.

“Our industry has always supported efforts to reduce overexposure and risk. Like many things, UV exposure is all about moderation and responsibility. Salon owners should be held accountable for following regulations and not allow a few bad actors to sully the industry,” American Suntanning Association Advisor Joseph Levy said.

“We agree with the Mayor that there should be additional regulation to crack down on anyone acting irresponsibly and American Suntanning Association salons are happy to work with the Mayor on this initiative,” Levy said.

According to initial media reports, the Mayor’s plan includes the following, all of which the ASA supports:

• Require the health department to inspect tanning salons.
• Crack down on unlicensed operators.
• Require operators of UV equipment to undergo training. Enforce the law that bars
adolescents under 17 from frequenting tanning shops.
• Launch a public education campaign about the dangers of too much UV exposure.

For more information about ASA visit www.TanResponsibly.org.

MAY 4 — The American Suntanning Association (ASA) congratulates West Virginia lawmakers this week for enacting parental-consent legislation that ASA supported and that professional sunbed centers have used as a standard for years.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed the law May 1, which will take effect in July. It formalizes the protocol professional salons have already had in place: Requiring parents to sign consent for teenagers to use sunbeds in a salon. This standard recognizes that many medical professionals believe sunburn prevention — not total sun avoidance — is what needs to be emphasized in public policy on this topic.

ASA this spring encouraged the West Virginia House of Representatives to enact the standard as a practical alternative to legislation in the West Virginia Senate that would have banned all teenagers from using sunbeds in a salon. Total bans would lead families who wish to tan to unregulated home sunbeds and more-frequent outdoor tanning — both of which are more likely to lead to sunburn and overexposure.

“Nationwide, ASA is working with state legislatures to support informed parental consent as the standard for sunbed usage by teenage clients,” ASA President Bart Bonn said. “We have always supported constructive legislation on this topic.”

The American Suntanning Association (ASA) is the largest network of professional businesses dedicated to providing responsible indoor tanning services while increasing public awareness about the facts associated with moderate UV and spray-on tanning. For more information about ASA visit www.AmericanSuntanning.org.

A recent episode of MTV’s “True Life” followed two young adults that were self-proclaimed “tanning addicts.” The episode was filled with misconceptions about tanning, including outdoor, indoor and spray tanning. As the leader in responsible tanning, the American Suntanning Association wants to clear up some of that misinformation.

Nobody should tan indoors or outdoors multiple times a day. Moderate indoor suntanning is all about looking good while reducing the risk of sunburn. Trained indoor suntanning operators, with the help of session management software, won’t allow customers to tan more than once in a 24-hour period. Operators also control all exposure times to minimize a client’s risk of overexposure and sunburn.

The “75% increased risk of melanoma” statistic is misleading. This statistic came from a World Health Organization study that combined the data from medical phototherapy equipment, unsupervised home units and commercial sunbeds. Results of the study showed medical equipment to increase risk 96%, unsupervised home units 40%, and commercial sunbeds only 6%, which is statistically insignificant. The statistics were combined for the 75% and incorrectly attributed to sunbeds.

Spray tanning is not just like applying makeup to your skin. The primary ingredient used in most spray-on tanning equipment today is called dihydroxyacetone (DHA). DHA, a colorless sugar, interacts with the outermost layer of the skin to darken skin color in a period of several hours. It takes about 12-24 hours for the DHA in your skin to reach its full tanning potential and a spray-on tan can last as long as 7-10 days. Some spray solution does include an instant bronzer to give instant results while the DHA darkens. Spray tanning does not offer any sunburn prevention.

The American Suntanning Association is a values-based coalition of suntan centers committed to teaching the vision of responsible and balanced sun care. For more information, visit TanResponsibly.com.

The Biebs was spotted at a tanning salon in Paris! Not sure if he was there for a spray tan or a UV tan, but he’s looking great either way!

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Meredith Hoffman at DNAInfo.com reports on alternative reasons people regularly visit tanning salons.

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