HHS HealthBeat (December 30, 2010)

Sunless tanning at the beach

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

People go to the beach to tan in the sun, but Sherry Pagoto knows sun tanning can lead to skin cancer. So the researcher at the University of Massachusetts Medical School showed women at a beach sunless tanning products, information on skin cancer, and pictures from a camera that could highlight skin damage.

Pagoto found that, a year later, women who got the anti-sunbathing approach sunbathed less and used sunless tanning products more than other women, who only got cosmetics that day at the beach.

Pagoto says sunless is safer:

``If they really feel like they want to be tan, use sunless tanning products as a safe alternative, and then protect themselves when they are out in the sun.’’ (8 seconds)

The study in Archives of Dermatology was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May 7, 2011