Why you shouldn’t tan

According to the Melanoma Foundation of New England, the top five reasons to take the No-Tanning Pledge are:
1. People who use tanning beds once a month before the age of 35 increase their melanoma risk by 75 percent.
2. Melanoma kills one person every hour. It is the second most common cancer for women aged 25-29. Rates for melanoma are increasing faster than nearly all other cancers.     3. It is not safe to tan in the sun or in a tanning booth. The more you tan and the younger you start tanning, the more likely it is that you will get melanoma.
4. Using a tanning bed for 20 minutes is the equivalent to spending one to three hours a day at the beach with no sun protection at all. Tanning beds put out three to six times the amount of radiation given off by the sun.
5. For most people, 5-10 minutes of unprotected sun two to three times a week is enough to help your skin make Vitamin D, which is essential for your health. Getting more sun won’t increase your Vitamin D level, but it will increase your risk of skin cancer. Vitamin D also comes from orange juice, milk, fish, and supplements.