Guys, stop tanning so hard — you’re going to hurt yourselves. In fact, sun damage is such a big problem (which you already knew, right?) that Surgeon General Boris Lushniak released a report stating that getting crispy brown is crazy dangerous.
According to USA Today, almost 5 million people are treated for skin cancer annually and the numbers continue to climb, despite aisles upon aisles of sunblock, wide brim hats and beach umbrellas. On Tuesday, Lushniak and his team released a new report decrying people who want a tan so badly they are paying for indoor sun beds, which are the worst because that type of ultraviolet radiation exposure is “completely avoidable.” He even wants to spread the practice of banning minors from tanning beds, as some states already have. Lushniak is serious about our need to change, but we’re getting there:
Indoor tanning use by teens dropped in recent years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says 12.8% of teens younger than 18 admitted to indoor tanning in 2013, down from 15.6% in 2009.
There we go!
On the other side of this tanning discussion lies the Indoor Tanning Association — this is a real thing — which has yet to respond to the Surgeon General’s stance. I can only imagine that they are crafting a savvy statement encouraging safe sun exposure, while the dollars keep rolling in from pasty people who aren’t in love with their translucent skin.
Image via Getty.