12.20.12
A new coalition led by the United States largest professional sunbed centers announced the formation of the American Suntanning Association(ASA), which is billing itself as “a values-based organization dedicated to increasing public awareness about the facts associated with moderate ultraviolet (UV) exposure and spray-on tanning and correcting misinformation about sunlight and sunbeds.
"It is time to have a higher-level discussion about UV light from the sun and from sunbeds," said Bart Bonn, ASA board president and owner of Ashley Lynn's Tanning based in Omaha. "The ASA is going to be a constructive party in that discussion, demanding a consumer-first conversation differentiating proper sun care from blatant overstatements about the risks of UV exposure."
"There are many misconceptions about the risks associated with indoor tanning,"said ASA board member Diane Lucas, president of Palm Beach Tan, a national salon chain based in Dallas. "One of the primary roles of the ASA is to address and factually dispel these myths and educate the public about intelligent, practical sun care for tanners and non-tanners."
According to the group, many studies about sunbed usage don't actually study professional sunbed salons, but rather include sunbeds used to treat cosmetic conditions in doctors' offices and unmonitored home-based tanning units. When home and medical sunbeds are removed from these studies, the risk connected to professional salons virtually disappears. (Medical usage of sunbeds in doctor's offices to treat cosmetic skin disease often involves intentional sunburn - sometimes even blistering sunburn.)
Organizations that have promoted these studies haven't disclosed this critical distinction and have ignored many other confounding factors.
"The professional sunbed salon community is present in every American community and has become an important part of local small business economies as good employers," said ASA board member Rick Kueber, CEO of Sun Tan City, a national chain based in Elizabethtown, KY. "That's why it's important that the sunbed salon market elevates the balanced conversation about UV exposure and steps up to provide accurate education and information about responsible indoor tanning to our clients."
A volunteer-driven organization, ASA includes members from all 50 states. ASA members will work with legislators and health care officials at the local, state and federal level to support constructive regulation that underscores operational protocol already embraced by professional sunbed centers.
"It is time to have a higher-level discussion about UV light from the sun and from sunbeds," said Bart Bonn, ASA board president and owner of Ashley Lynn's Tanning based in Omaha. "The ASA is going to be a constructive party in that discussion, demanding a consumer-first conversation differentiating proper sun care from blatant overstatements about the risks of UV exposure."
"There are many misconceptions about the risks associated with indoor tanning,"said ASA board member Diane Lucas, president of Palm Beach Tan, a national salon chain based in Dallas. "One of the primary roles of the ASA is to address and factually dispel these myths and educate the public about intelligent, practical sun care for tanners and non-tanners."
According to the group, many studies about sunbed usage don't actually study professional sunbed salons, but rather include sunbeds used to treat cosmetic conditions in doctors' offices and unmonitored home-based tanning units. When home and medical sunbeds are removed from these studies, the risk connected to professional salons virtually disappears. (Medical usage of sunbeds in doctor's offices to treat cosmetic skin disease often involves intentional sunburn - sometimes even blistering sunburn.)
Organizations that have promoted these studies haven't disclosed this critical distinction and have ignored many other confounding factors.
ly to do so, according to ASA.
"The professional sunbed salon community is present in every American community and has become an important part of local small business economies as good employers," said ASA board member Rick Kueber, CEO of Sun Tan City, a national chain based in Elizabethtown, KY. "That's why it's important that the sunbed salon market elevates the balanced conversation about UV exposure and steps up to provide accurate education and information about responsible indoor tanning to our clients."
A volunteer-driven organization, ASA includes members from all 50 states. ASA members will work with legislators and health care officials at the local, state and federal level to support constructive regulation that underscores operational protocol already embraced by professional sunbed centers.