Argumentative Essay: The Dangers Of Indoor Tanning

Tanning has become very popular in today’s society. Tanned skin has become known as healthy and beautiful, when in reality tanned skin is damaged skin. Many teens start the habit of indoor tanning when preparing for a school dance or maybe another special occasion, and then they just continue to go afterwards. Indoor tanning equipment, which includes all artificial light sources, including beds, lamps, bulbs, booths, etc., emits UVA and UVB radiation. The amount of the radiation produced during indoor tanning is similar to the sun, and in some cases might be stronger than the sun ("Indoor Tanning”). There are approximately 14,000 tanning salons across the country as of early 2014, and they all have gotten very good at justifying the risky behaviors tanning beds possess. (Tavernise). There are many risks that teens take when they tan on a regular basis, therefore, tanning should be banned for minors because of the risk of developing skin cancer, the addiction it might bring on to the teens, damage it does to the skin and the cost of indoor tanning.

People tan for all types of reasons, maybe to look nice at a school dance or to just get some color for the cold winter months. When people ask tanning salons about indoor tanning they all have gotten very good at justifying the risky

On an average day there are about a million people who go tanning on a regular basis, and of those million people, most are younger, between the ages of sixteen and twenty-nine (Hochman). People who use tanning beds before age of thirty-five have a seventy-five percent increased risk of developing melanoma (Fellingham). There are approximately 65,000 new cases nationwide of melanoma and about 9,000 deaths each year from the most preventable disease (Salsberg). Researchers said that there is a death every hour because of melanoma