Dr. Neal Schultz: Hello I'm Dr. Neal Schultz and welcome to Derm TV.

The importance of yesterday's breaking news linking tanning salons to skin cancer is not the fact that they are related. We have known that for over 25 years. The importance is that it was proven in a very scientific study published in the very prestigious medical journal, Lancet Oncology. And in the journal they stated and proved that the risk of skin cancer jumps 75% if you start using tanning salons before the age of thirty. Finally we can respond to the very powerful tanning salon lobby since it's a $5 billion business. We can respond to that lobby that keeps stating that there's no proof that tanning salons cause skin cancer. Now we have proof.

So why are tanning salons so hazardous to your health? When you go out in the sun, you get a burn, you get a tan in the sunlight your life experience gives you some sense, how much sunlight I getting and how much risk am I. But when you go to a tanning salon where they are using Ultraviolet A bulbs, you have no idea what level of dangerous rays you are getting. Let me show you what I mean.

These bulbs are qualitatively very similar to the bulbs that are used in a tanning salon. They emit a certain amount of energy, but you can't tell there is no heat; there is no way for you to judge how much dangerous energy is coming out. Some of these bulbs are very powerful. Some of them in fifteen minutes can give you as much energy as you would get all day in eight hours outdoors. Also, as the bulbs get older, they change in energy, they decrease in energy, and so the tanning salon has no idea how much energy you are actually getting; even scarier, you have no idea how much you are getting it is completely unpredictable.

The bottom line is the amount of energy you are getting is what's going to determine whether or not you get skin cancer and you have no way to judge this at a tanning salon. That is why tanning beds are so hazardous to your health.

So while the only safe tan is a tan you get from a self-tanner out of a bottle, one thing is for sure: the tan you get in a tanning salon is the worst and most dangerous tan, so please do not use tanning salons.

Please join me again at dermtv.com. If you have a question please send me by visiting dermtv.com/question. I'm Dr. Neal Schultz and thank you for watching today.