Vanity compelled MaryAnn Gerber to visit tanning beds almost weekly since she turned 20. Four years later, it was that same vanity that caused her to have an unusual blemish removed — which saved her life.
Gerber had noticed a mole on her face with a pinkish-reddish hue that she couldn't hide with makeup. A plastic surgeon removed the unsightly blemish and called Gerber back a day later to inform her it was melanoma — the deadliest form of skin cancer.
"The reason I had tanned so much was because I was vain about my looks," said the now 28-year-old Gerber, who is currently cancer-free and blames tanning beds for the multiple mole removals in her life. "Now I have a 6-inch scar down my left cheek. When I would go out, which wasn't a lot because I was ashamed of my face, people would ask if I had been in a car accident, but nobody could guess skin cancer."
Gerber is among a growing number of women ages 18 to 35 being diagnosed with melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer, and many dermatologists are pointing a finger at tanning beds for the rise.
Tanning beds have become more popular over the past 20 years, as they cast ultraviolet light in up to 20-minute increments on a person's body and provide a bronze glow — an increasingly desired Western image of beauty.
"A tan is very beautiful," said Diane Gardner, who describes her back as a connect-the-dots board from all the moles she's had removed. "It is a high school thing. I don't think white, a pale skin, is a hit for the kids. It's absolutely a pressure."
But tanning beds, which come with a disclaimer notice each tanner signs, emit UVA and UVB rays that some physicians say cause more harm than staying out in the sun, whether you burn or bronze.
Although tanning has not been directly proven to cause skin cancer, Sancy Leachman, director of the melanoma and cutaneous oncology program at Huntsman Cancer Institute, said circumstantial evidence indicates that frequent tanning leads to a higher risk of developing one form of the disease.
A study published by the American Cancer Society showed in recent trends that young women are increasingly at risk for melanoma.
Utah laws prohibit people from using tanning beds more than once every 24 hours, but Leachman said the UV light from tanning is stronger than regular sunlight.
"They always say how safe it is if you follow certain guidelines, but I was safe. I put a towel over my face. I never burned," said Gerber, who looks back on the four years she tanned regularly with regret. "I know the damage I did to my skin. Twenty minutes in the tanning bed is equivalent to three hours in the sun."
Tanning professionals say indoor UV light is a better option because it limits sun exposure and helps the body protect against too much sun by building up a melanin layer at the top of the skin.
"So when you get a suntan, you're less likely to get burnt," said Indoor Tanning Association executive director John Overstreet. "The melanin filters out the UVA and UVB rays. There's absolutely no scientific basis for assertions that tanning causes harm."
Tanning Oasis owner Brian Moser said he questions statistics linking skin cancer to tanning beds, saying that just because numbers correlate doesn't mean they are linked together.
Frequent tanners such as Jennifer Rice, who works at European Tanning in Murray, said she's been tanning for at least 20 years with no ill effects from her once-a-week visits to "bronze up."
Rice, 35, said she mostly tans to prevent sunburn before going on a vacation or out in the sun for extended periods of time.
"The thing that bothers me most about the tanning industry is that it's very similar to the tobacco industry," Leachman said. "Everyone accepts that cigarette smoking is bad for you, but people have a difficult time believing that of tanning salons."
Tanning bed operators argue the benefits of tanning as a vitamin D booster.
"We have dermatologists who say you can come in once in a while," said Lejla Rukavic, who works at Tahiti Tanning in Salt Lake. "It gives you protected exposure before going out in the sun. UVB rays do burn you, but UVA rays just bronze you. They're OK."
Some tanning salons have started offering as an alternative a spray that douses the body in FDA-approved chemicals to create a temporary tan.
Rukavic said she has naturally olive-toned skin and uses the spray to become more tan more quickly.
"It's a little more expensive but creates a more natural tan look," she said.
Moser said that with sunscreen companies promoting the harmful effects of overexposure to the sun, tanning has received a bad reputation over the years, but it's a reputation that is undeserved.
"Oncologists state that no, skin cancer is not related to tanning," Moser said. "There's a lot of bills being presented banning teens from tanning. But teens will tan. If they can't do it in a controlled environment, they'll do it in an uncontrolled environment where they could burn."
Gardner, who has spent 10 years having moles removed, said she still misses the coconut smells of tanning lotion and the relaxing feeling of laying in a tanning bed.
"I loved going to the tanning bed. I seriously felt skinny," Gardner said. "I felt great when I left. I felt pretty, like I was in the in-crowd. I even crave it sometimes in the winter."
But Gardner just has to look down at the indented, purple, hand-sized scar on her thigh that scares her every bathing suit season to remember why she'll never return.
"People make comments and say, 'You're so pasty,' " Gardner said. "I would rather be pasty than use a tanning bed or the sun outside."
E-MAIL: lgroves@desnews.com