Tantalizing Notions

"I've never done this before, so you have to help me out," Bill Irvin, a City of Las Vegas employee and tanning salon novice, says to a Rio-tan salon attendant.

The attendant points out the features of the Sunboard tanning bed, a space age-style lounge chair with lamps Irvin will lay prone on for 20 minutes.

"I wanted to tan faster (this year)," Irvin says, admitting it was his girlfriend's idea to bronze his skin a la artificial means. "I think it's safer than the sun. You don't burn and you can control" the amount of ultraviolet light (rays from the sun that can cause damage from overexposure) you receive.

To tan or not to tan: Is there even a question?

Local dermatologists say no, that any tanning is bad, even as tanning salons gain in popularity around the valley. The industry has grown from a few salons in the mid-'80s to more than 50 today, with even more tanning beds popping up at inexpensive hair shops, apartment buildings and gyms.

"There is no safe way to tan," Dr. James Del Rosso, dermatologist at Las Vegas Skin and Cancer Clinics, says. "Tanning is evidence that you are producing damage. To purposely increase (ultraviolet exposure) is going to increase your chances of (developing) skin cancer and premature aging."

In a climate such as Las Vegas', he says, where the sun shines intensely throughout the year, sun screen applied throughout the day is beneficial to keeping skin youthful and preventing cancerous cells from forming.

"Your skin adds up UV exposure like a computer; you are getting incidental exposure day to day," Del Rosso says. "Sun exposure should be in moderation. Just like you brush your teeth everyday, you need (to wear) sun screen to protect your skin."

John Spilotro, a cancer information specialist for the Las Vegas office of the American Cancer Society, says the number of skin cancer diagnoses in the country has risen in recent years, up 200,000 cases since 1997.

"There has been a lot more detection (of skin cancers) because people are a lot more aware of it," Spilotro says, adding that the thinning of the ozone layer has increased the intensity of ultraviolet rays, exposure to which is directly related to skin cancer.

Spilotro agrees with Del Rosso that exposing unprotected skin to the sun and regular use of tanning salons increases cancer and premature aging risks.

"There is no good tanning salon, regardless of what they say in (salon) advertisements -- they create skin cancer," he says. "They say it's safer because it's controlled, but unless you live in a closet, you get sun all the time."

Here's a simplified definition of tanning: Ultraviolet B rays (short, intense waves of energy) stimulate the production of the protective pigment melanin in the skin, causing melanocyte cells to rise to the surface of the skin, and ultraviolet A rays turn the pigment brown. (The more melanin or pigment you have in your skin, the less risk you have of getting skin cancer.)

"There is no magic anything, you have to use common sense, but people keep pushing the envelope," Spilotro warns. "If you spit in a bulldog's eye, you'll get bit."

But is an all-out tan-ban over-reacting?

Gene Glaschke, owner/president of Rio-Tan, Inc. -- which has salons throughout the valley -- says a healthy tan not only looks good, but is good for the soul.

"People like the feeling of getting a good tan," he says. "It's mood-lifting."

He says tanning salons offer a safe, convenient and controlled environment to receive ultraviolet rays and turn a healthy brown.

"When you look tan, you look healthy," Glaschke says, adding that exposure to the UV light rays lowers your blood pressure, cholesterol and risk of breast cancer -- which are listed in the salon's brochure.

"It's a difference between use and abuse," Glaschke says. And moderation is the key to responsible tanning.

"We have tan-orexics," Gary Mills, Rio-Tan's director of operations and co-owner, says. "We have one woman who comes in and she can't get any darker, but she keeps tanning."

"Legally, they can come in every day," Glaschke says. "But we tell them they've reached their tanning plateau. That's all we can do -- suggest."

First-time patrons are asked questions and given the rules: Eyewear must be used; certain medications, such as birth control pills, may cause sensitivity (as they also would by tanning in the sun); avoid frequent or lengthy exposure to the rays; and how long they should tan depends on a skin type analysis.

On a recent Saturday afternoon, as spring finally began to show its sunny capabilities, business was brisk at the 14-bed salon on Lake Mead Boulevard and Buffalo Drive.

"Tanning is becoming more socially acceptable," says Glaschke, who plans to open two new shops in the valley by the fall of 2000. He adds that as people become more educated about the benefits of controlled sunlight, fears will dissipate.

The May 1999 Tanning Trends trade journal qoutes Allen J. Christophers, a retired Australian occupational medicine specialist, in a paper he published in a recent issue of Mutation Research. He said that melanoma, the most aggressive type of skin cancer, "is not caused by sunlight."

Mills says: "Last year there was an article in USA Today that said tanning reduces breast cancer. You would never see that 10 years ago."

Donna and Rick O'Leary, owners of Tan Y'er Buns in Green Valley, have been in business for seven years.

"Going into a booth, you can control the bad rays versus the good rays," Donna O'Leary says.

By using the booth, she says customers are more aware of their skin and more inclined to take care of it. "You hear all the bad things about tanning, but people go out in the sun for six hours and they don't wear sun screen," she says.

Tanning has been in our culture long enough that a healthy glow is still desirable and will continue to draw eager devotees.

Gina Reyna, a 27-year-old-entertainment assistant at Mandalay Bay hotel-casino, has been tanning in a salon for six years and uses the Rio-Tan three times a month.

"I think your skin looks better tan," Reyna says. "I don't have the patience to lay out in the sun, and I don't want to run around half-naked."

Privacy -- she prefers her birthday suit over a bathing suit -- is also a big perk.

"At first I was a little hesitant, not knowing the dangers," she says. "But (from) the things that I've heard about, (salons) are better than the sun."

Gabriel Rodriguez also uses the tanning salon, usually after working out at the gym.

"It feels healthy," says Rodriguez, who tans six or seven times a month. "I like the physical look (of a tan) and I take care of myself. I like working out and it's part of my regimen."

He says the 20 minutes or so under the bulbs relax him and any associated medical risks are just part of life.

"I can't worry about that," he says. "Living out here (in Las Vegas), you're in the sun anyway, all the time."

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