The Senate has decided to ban tanning booths in France. Carcinogenic, they favored the multiplication of skin cancers without any health benefit. A law already adopted on January 1, 2015 by Australia and in 2009 by Brazil. This resolution is intended to fight against the proliferation of skin cancer and to protect the younger generations.
This decision will satisfy the Academy of Medicine, which has been alerting the public authorities since 2003 and warning the French population to the risks associated with exposure to artificial UV rays (UVA), relying on the positions of certain health authorities which confirm the risks of tanning booths. In 2009, this practice was classified in the group of certain carcinogens to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). In 2011, the National Institute for Sanitary Surveillance (InVs) noted that the number of melanomas tripled between 1980 and 2005 in France, reaching 9,780 new cases and 1,620 deaths.
This text can only be implemented after having been validated by the National Assembly.
The harmful effects of tanning booths
Tanning booths expose clients to artificial ultraviolet light. But, to tan in this type of device, you have to spend a lot of time. “Exposure to UVA rays is only accompanied by pigmentation of the skin if it is significant and therefore the cause of cellular damage” recalls the Academy of Medicine.
This practice of artificial tanning does not provide any of the health benefits claimed by tanning professionals. Indeed, the intake of active vitamin D is not linked to the action of UVA rays.
UVA exposure is not accompanied by pigmentation or thickening of the epidermis, which would participate in effective protection of the skin. Finally, in the treatment of seasonal depression, UVA rays are not useful and only light therapy can have some effectiveness.
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