It would seem that the days of widespread use of tanning beds might soon be over with the recent announcement of the World Health Organization’s cancer research department that such devices can cause cancer. With this declaration, tanning beds have essentially been catapulted to the category of substances and factors that are known cancer risks. While there is still a flourishing trade in new and used tanning beds, the reclassification of such devices from being “likely” to cause cancer to “can definitely” cause cancer warrants some serious rethinking. The reason for all this fuss is that the statistical evidence that tanning beds can cause cancer can no longer be denied.

While all these developments are reason enough to be concerned for everyone who uses and continues to use tanning beds, it is young female adults in particular who should pay attention. Whether through a commercial tanning salon or their own home tanning beds, this demographic has registered an alarming increase in the number of skin cancer cases over the past few years.

Strangely enough, a lot of people still view tanning as a healthy pursuit, even in the face of overwhelming evidence that such activities cause serious damage to the skin. The question that this now brings up is why tanning beds pose such a health risk.

Scientists have known for a while that ultraviolet radiation of the A, B, and C varieties–that is UVA, UVB, and UVC, respectively–can cause lab animals to develop skin cancer. This evidence flies in the face of certain manufacturer’s claims that some models of home tanning beds are safe to use because they emit mostly UVA radiation and not the “bad” UVB. This is either misinformation or downright deception on their part, since UVA is just as dangerous as the other forms of ultraviolet radiation. Simply put, using either new or used tanning beds puts you at risk for skin cancer just as regular overexposure to the sun.

In people up to 30 years old, there has been a huge increase in the number of skin cancer cases, which is undoubtedly due to the popularity of new and used tanning beds. The increase in the number of melanoma cases in young women is even more alarming, with almost 3 times as many from this group getting skin cancer from the early 70s to 2004.

As if this isn’t bad enough, thicker and more potentially fatal melanoma lesions characterize many of today’s skin cancer cases. And scientists are beginning to turn their attention to the widespread use of home tanning beds as the likely culprit.

While a few experts remain hesitant to directly blame the use of tanning beds as the primary cause in the increase in skin cancer cases, the proof is almost irrefutable. While the decision as to whether or not to keep going to tanning salons or buying used tanning beds remain the user’s, it would appear that the use of these devices may be coming to an end.