#melanoma - new research shows indoor tanning is as dangerous as the sun. Font: Time.

Despite studies that document the dangers of tanning beds, young people are still tanning indoors too frequently. In 2013, the tanning salon industry collected an estimated $5 billion in revenue and the year before, nearly one-third of white women aged 18 years to 25 years reported using tanning beds, despite the fact that indoor tanning before age 35 increases the risk of melanoma later by 75%.

The most recent study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, shows that even if you don’t get a sunburn while indoor tanning, it still raises your risk for skin cancer. The scientists looked at 1167 melanoma patients who were matched to 1101 control subjects and found that the melanoma patients who reported no burns were still four times as likely to be indoor tanners than the cancer-free participants. They were also more likely to start tanning at younger ages, confirming that the more exposure to the harmful UV rays, the greater the cancer risk.

Given what we know about indoor tanning and the dangers of ultraviolet radiation, why are tanning beds still so popular? There’s intriguing hints that tanning, and the effect of UV on the body, may be similar to an addiction. For one, the bronze glow of a tan has long been valued as somehow healthier and sexier than a pale complexion. Maybe because of this cultural bias, public health officials have been slower to warn people about the dangers of UV rays and even slower to regulate tanning-related devices like indoor beds. Ultraviolet radiation from indoor tanning was first recognized as a carcinogen in 2009. Now, it seems that finally these recent and scary results should increase the public’s awareness of indoor tanning-related harms so that people are aware that tanning beds can be just as dangerous as the sun when it comes to skin cancer.