Joint Canadian Tanning Association Launches Tan Awareness Week
KELOWNA, BC --- May 20, 2008 -- UV exposure in levels consistent with tanning is natural and intended - a fact that often gets lost in over-trumped sun care messages. That's why Canadians need to be exposed to the facts and not the myths about sun exposure, says Steve Gilroy, Executive Director of the Joint Canadian Tanning Association (JCTA).
Myth:
UV exposure is dangerous, so Canadians should avoid tanning.
Fact:
Tanning is a natural and intended biologic process. Our bodies are designed to produce melanin, a natural free-radical scavenger and pigment which darkens the skin. By increasing pigmentation, a tan is the natural way to protect your skin from sunburn, for most by up to an SPF of 4.
"Every year at this time, Canadians are inundated with messaging about avoiding exposure to the sun. This is wrong. The message should be to avoid sunburning at all times. Research shows that people who avoid the sun actually sunburn more often when they do go outdoors for holidays," Gilroy says.
Over-cooked sun abstinence messages, at the core, are funded by groups who profit from overstating the risks associated with UV overexposure and who ignore or deny the benefits. "For example, most Canadians don't know the sun avoidance message is funded by the sunscreen manufacturers who each pay the Canadian Dermatology Association thousands of dollars to have the CDA logo on each sunscreen product sold in Canada," Gilroy said. "American dermatology groups have come under fire from their peers for exactly the same program. Especially since both groups are promoting over-use of sunscreen, it calls into question the integrity of their sun care advice."
