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You must realize that skin cancer has a 20- to 30-year latency period; the
rates of skin cancer we are seeing today are a function of the ignorant misbehavior
of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Recall: Society used to view sunburns as an inconvenient
rite of spring - a precursor to developing a summer tan. Society felt that
sunburns would "fade" into tans, and so tanners hit the beaches and
blacktops with baby oil and reflectors. Severe burns were commonplace. Today
we know how reckless that approach was, and the rates of skin cancer we are
seeing today reflect that ignorance.
What's more, you must realize that the photobiology research community has
determined that most skin cancers are related to a strong pattern of intermittent
exposure to ultraviolet light in those people who are genetically predisposed
to skin cancer, and not simply to cumulative exposure. That again suggests that
heredity and a pattern of repeated sunburning is what we need to prevent. And
that kind of prevention is exactly what the indoor tanning industry is doing
effectively.
The indoor tanning industry believes that our role in teaching sunburn prevention
will help to reverse the increases that largely are a result of misbehavior
that took place years ago before the professional tanning industry existed and
before we were organized to teach sunburn prevention.
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