Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Tanning beds, because of the concentrated high doses of ultraviolet radiation they deliver, are now classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Other things positively identified as cancer-causing agents by the World Health Organization group include asbestos, benzene, the dry cleaning fluid gallium arsenide, mustard gas, plutonium, sunlight and tobacco smoke.
Data published in Lancet Oncology show that people who begin using tanning beds before they turn 30 increase their risk for developing melanoma by 75 percent. Melanomas account for most deaths attributable to skin cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
The Virginia Department of Health reported in 2008 that just more than 6,300 Commonwealth residents had melanoma, most cases coming from natural sun exposure.
Newsday quoted Dan Humiston, president of the Indoor Tanning Association, as commenting that "the fact that the IARC has put tanning bed use in the same category as sunlight is hardly newsworthy. The UV light from a tanning bed is equivalent to UV light from the sun, which has had a Group 1 classification since 1992."
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