Tans are cool but not cool enough to get cancer for.
Despite all their fascination, they are always accompanied by severe health risks.
While we continue to try and have tans to make ourselves all the more attractive, stats show that one in every ten people in the UK, including even eight-year-olds, are placing their lives at stake while trying to get those ‘perfect tan lines.’
Research reveals that going sunbathing before the age of 35 highly increases the odds of getting melanoma, the most lethal form of skin cancer, by as much as 87 per cent.
When you use the sunbeds, you are actually getting more UV rays than you get from a midday Mediterranean sun. In just 20 minutes, a sunbed can bombard your body with more UV rays than being in the sun for four hours.
The UV rays your body gets from the sunbeds is the very thing that gives your body the tan you need by making the skin generate melanin but there’s another thing about it, the same UV rays are a source of skin cancer as well.
Tanning beds or sunbeds are more dangerous than natural tanning because they often employ the UVA radiations, which have a greater penetrating ability than the UVB. Natural sunlight is a combination of both.
A recent survey conducted by The Sun found that the majority of sunbed users, 77 per cent of them in fact, think that having a tanned skin makes them more good-looking.
Surprisingly, as much as 50 percent of them believe ‘the darker the better.’
While people think using sunbeds makes them look prettier but in the long run, the results are the exact opposite and can even be fatal.
Celebrities who have used sunbeds at some time in the past are now joining a campaign, Dying For A Tan, aimed at creating awareness about the adverse effects of sunbeds.
The noticeable names include Ferne McCann, Georgia Kousoulou, and Vicky Pattison.
Launched by The Sun, the campaign will warn the public about the dangers of using sunbeds by sharing the stories of women who have lost a body part due to the skin cancer caused by them.
Vicky Pattison, the Geordie Shore star, told The Sun: “I am supporting this campaign because growing up the knowledge wasn’t there when it came to sun bedding and now we all are more aware of the damaging effects.
“I LOVE feeling tanned and getting a spray tan once a week is the perfect alternative!”
Georgia, known for TOWIE, said: “I used to use sunbeds before I knew about the damaging effects for your skin. I think this campaign is really important as its educating people to the side effects of using sunbeds. Everyone wants to be tanned, especially in Essex! Fake tan for the win!”
Nicola Roberts from the cast of Girls Aloud added: “I’d like to see sunbeds banned for everybody. I don’t see any reason why sunbeds should still exist, there are plenty of alternatives. They can kill you.”
It is astonishing to know that more than 20 per cent of the sunbed users surveyed say they do not use sunscreen while using the sunbed as they believe that sunbeds are safer for tanning than the natural sunlight.
According to a study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), every session on the sunbed increases the odds of getting skin cancer.