Tanning bed users are at higher risk of skin cancer, especially in unusual places

"Hop onto TikTok and you'll find lots of videos of young people mostly women fake baking under the glowing UV lights of a tanning bed. Seattle dermatologist Heather Rogers says this is an alarming trend that comes after years of decline in indoor tanning in the U.S. She points to a 2025 survey from the American Academy of Dermatology which found 20% of Gen Z respondents prioritize getting a tan over protecting their skin."

"Researchers found that tanning bed users were nearly three times as likely to develop melanoma the deadliest form of skin cancer compared to people who'd never tanned indoors. They also had DNA damage that can lead to melanoma across nearly the entire surface of the skin. "Even in skin cells that look normal, in tanning bed patients, you can find those precursor mutations" that lead to melanoma, says Dr. Pedram Gerami, one of the study's authors and the IDP Foundation professor of skin cancer research"

Many young people, mostly women, post videos of using tanning beds under UV lights. A 2025 American Academy of Dermatology survey found 20% of Gen Z prioritize tanning over skin protection and 25% accept short-term looks over long-term skin health. Tanning bed users were nearly three times as likely to develop melanoma than those who never tanned indoors. DNA damage that can lead to melanoma was present across nearly the entire skin surface of tanning bed users. Normal-looking skin cells from tanning bed users contained precursor mutations for melanoma. Melanoma risk increased with cumulative exposures; 10–50 exposures doubled risk, over 200 exposures increased risk more than eightfold.

Read at www.npr.org