Further the research from the IARC that says "risk of skin melanoma is increased by 75 per cent when people started using tanning beds before age 30" does not account for skin Type 1. Dr W. Grant response to this research was "Thus, when studies in which a large fraction of the cases have an increased genetic risk for CMM (cutaneous malignant melanoma) based on skin phenotype are removed from the analysis, the risk of CMM is no longer significant. This means if you're a Skin Type 1 person you should not tan. Professional tanning salons today do not tan Skin Type 1 people. In the late 80's they said tanning would increase your risk of melanoma by up to 1500% and then in the 90's the risk was 700% and now they say the risk is 75%. The risk of getting melanoma keeps getting lower every 10 years. Maybe the other 18 pieces of research that show no connection to sunlight and melanoma are right and the IARC is wrong. Indoor tanning's alleged epidemiological connection with melanoma has not been presented correctly. Fully 18 of 22 studies on this topic show no connection and the four that do all have obvious confounding factors that aren't accounted for and which suggest their findings do not apply to the Canadian population. Additionally, one of the four is by an author who recently completed a larger study - the largest conducted to date - which stated the following: "Our study confirmed the expected associations between melanoma and fair skin, positive family history and numbers of naevi but did not find a significant association with exposure to the sun and/or sunbeds. ...In conclusion, sunbed and sun exposure were not found to be significant risk factors for melanoma in this case-control study performed in five European countries.
A new book by Master Dermatologist Dr Bernard Ackerman titled, "The Sun and the Epidemic of Melanoma: Myth on Myth" presents data suggesting that indoor tanning and melanoma have no actual causal relationship. In his book Ackerman writes, "The American Academy of Dermatology, for decades, has kept up a drumbeat on behalf of faith in an epidemic of melanoma and rays of the sun as the major cause of it, at the same time that it has flayed, incessantly, the tanning bed industry. Although the organization is termed an Academy, never has it presented in fashion academic a whit of evidence, available readily, contrary to its position entrenched, namely, there is no epidemic of melanoma ... and that tanning beds have not been proven to be a cause direct of melanoma." Ackerman, in the second edition of his book which was published this year, continues, "It is our contention that without an inherent basis genetic, a melanoma does not come into being and, in the absence of such predilection, sunlight alone is incapable of provoking melanocytes to proliferate in a manner malignant." Dr Bernard Ackerman, who won the Master Dermatologist award for 2004 from the AmericanAcademy of Dermatology and who is considered a pioneer in the field of dermatopathology, has no ties with indoor tanning or any industry.
When classifying UV light as a Carcinogen the IARC does not consider dosage, therefore some UV is beneficial and too much can be harmful. Just like you can die from to many x-rays and MRI, but we still use them because of the benefits.
IARC-WHO press release on indoor tanning reported that the risk of skin melanoma is increased by 75% when use of tanning devices starts before 30 years of age. They failed to acknowledge confounding information that challenges such a conclusion. IARC-WHO did not perform a new study, but rather conducted selective meta-analysis of several, but not all, previous studies. In reaching their conclusion they failed to acknowledge that there is no significant association whatsoever between indoor tanning and melanoma incidence if individuals with Type 1 skin - skin that is so fair that it cannot tan without burning - are removed from the data sets. Independent analysis of the IARC-WHO paper has shown this to be the case.[i] It should be noted that North American tanning facilities do not accept clients with Type 1 skin for this reason.
[i] Dr. William Grant. Analysis of IARC-WHO Meta-analysis of 9 studies on indoor tanning and melanoma
