Health & Fitness: Perils of The Tanning Parlor

Doctors worry about the effects of ultraviolet radiation

Indoor tanning salons, with their clamshell-like Plexiglas sun-lamp beds, have become a testament to the American conviction that a bronzed body radiates health and affluence. In a decade, the industry has burgeoned into 18,000 salons nationwide. Thousands of other businesses, like health clubs, have installed tanning booths. Now the pain: doctors are warning that exposure to the ultraviolet light emitted by sun lamps may result in afflictions, ranging from skin cancer to cataracts, that show up as much as 20 years later. Declares Dr. Stephen Katz, dermatology chief at the National Cancer Institute: "These things are hazardous."

Even parlor operators are...

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