Commercial tanning salons and melanoma risk

Abstract

There have been many case-control studies of melanoma and the use of indoor tanning equipment. A recent meta analysis of 8 credible studies in North America estimated an overall significant odds ratio of 1.23. Three of these 8 studies also reported separately on commercial use and home use of indoor tanning equipment. For home use the overall odds ratio was a significant 1.53 while for commercial use there was a non significant 1.05.

KEYWORDS:

• indoor tanning
• melanoma
• skin cancer

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

The author has done consulting for the American Suntanning Association.