ANSES, hasnational food safety agency, who had even asked for UV cabins to be banned, raises an alert on the risks of these tanning cabins.
Contrary to popular belief, it is not because you do not get a sunburn there that you do not increase your risk of cancer. It also doesn’t “prepare” the skin for the beach. The details of Géraldine Zamansky, journalist at the Magazine de la Santé on France 5.
franceinfo: We thought that these cabins had disappeared, but in fact, this is not the case?
Geraldine Zamansky: You thought so because there was a request for a ban in 2018 by ANSES, the national agency for food, environmental and occupational health safety. But that did not work. The pattern seemed unavoidable, however, I quote: “The population carcinogenic effect of artificial UV exposure”. An assertion obviously supported by very solid evidence.
Like an Australian study showing that more than 3/4 of melanoma-type skin cancers diagnosed in young people aged 18 to 29 were attributable to frequenting tanning booths. We are talking here about melanoma, serious cancers, in very young people!
Is the link really proven between the artificial UV rays of these cabins and these cancers?
Absolutely. Today, there is no longer any doubt about it, as Professor Caroline Robert, a dermatologist at the Gustave Roussy cancer center, reminded me.
Until the early 2000s, it was believed that in the ultraviolet rays, the UV, sent by the sun, it was above all the UVB which caused skin cancer, by damaging the cells at the heart of their DNA. This is why the cabins then used the UVA family.
But since then, we have discovered that UVA rays are also dangerous. Even at a theoretically controlled dose. Even if the person has never had a sunburn from an artificial tanning session. Because it’s one of the false beliefs still very present in this field: as long as I don’t have a sunburn, my skin doesn’t suffer. Well yes, Caroline Robert is formal: UVA rays can damage our cells in depth, without leaving a red color on the surface.
But then why do these cabins still exist?
Perhaps intense lobbying by cabin owners? They just no longer have the right to host minors, and advertising has been highly regulated so their activity has become more discreet.
But be careful, really. The risks begin from the first session, especially in the youngest. And especially if you have fair skin. Nor should it be thought that it prepares your skin for the sun of the beach.
In fact, I’m not going to go into details here, but UVA rays alone don’t have the power. On the other hand, under their targeted action in the cabin, the skin would age four times faster than under sunlight. So, if you really want to tan a little, it is better to keep this natural source in moderation and by putting on a protective cream.
The ANSES 2022 alert
ANSES’s opinion in 2018