KYOTO, JAPAN The use of sunless tanning products by women in the United States is on the rise, with the most cited reason by users being the topical products' safety as an alternative to sunbathing and tanning beds.
This is a most welcome trend. Increased public acceptance of sunless tanning products (STPs) holds the potential to cause a substantial reduction in skin cancer rates, Mary Jayne McIlwaine reported at an international investigative dermatology meeting.
"Despite the growing knowledge of the danger of sun exposure and UV tanning, our results suggest that a large proportion of the population still believes tanning is desirable and attractive. Until public opinion changes, it's important to provide the public with suitable ways to tan their skin without the dangers of UV exposuresuch as STPs," she added at the meeting of the European Society for Dermatological Research, the Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology, and the Society for Investigative Dermatology.
She surveyed 415 women, average age 28 years, regarding their tanning behaviors and beliefs. The women were queried in gyms, swimming pools, and university sororities and dining halls.
Forty-eight percent of respondents reported using STPs at least once in the past year. "That's a much higher percentage than in previous published studies. This suggests STP use may be increasing," according to Ms. McIlwaine, who is a medical student at Emory University in Atlanta.
Encouragingly, 35% of the STP users indicated they employed these "tan-in-a-can" products as at least a partial replacement for sunbathing, and 25% reported using STPs in lieu of tanning beds.
STPs appear to be more popular with younger women. Fifty-four percent of 18-to 25-year-olds reported using them within the past year, compared with 41% of those aged 26-40 years and 40% of respondents over the age of 40.
Only 14% of women with brown or black skin reported STP use, compared with 56% of those with very white/freckled skin and 54% with white/olive skin.
The survey results suggest that, in spite of the growing awareness of the dangers of UV tanning, core ideas regarding the desirability of the tanned look remain largely unchanged. Ninety-three percent of the survey respondents indicated they believe tanned skin is more attractive than untanned skin. Seventy-nine percent said that they feel better about themselves when they have a tan. Seventy-one percent of subjects reported sunbathing at least once during the past year, and 26% used a tanning bed.
Most STPs contain dihydroacetone, which reacts with amino acids in the stratum corneum to produce a temporary brown hue.
Respondents' top reasons for not using STPs were dislike of product color and streakiness. Thus, further technical improvements in product quality might be important in achieving greater public acceptance and more widespread use of STPs as a tool for skin cancer prevention, Ms. McIlwaine concluded.
"Tan-in-a-can" products appear to be more popular with younger women. Shane Wake