Pros And Cons Of Ultraviolet Overexposure

Teen’s Futures with Ultraviolet Overexposure: An Argument Paper Today, there are over 200 different known cancers that affect humans. The cause of cancer can either be hereditary or brought on by carcinogens, factors known to increase the risk of cancer. Throughout life, there are unavoidable carcinogens damaging people; however, there are certain measures that could be taken to help reduce the impact. An example of an unavoidable carcinogen is exposure to ultraviolet rays directly from the sun. Using sufficient sun block that has a strong enough SPF can reduce the impact of those rays. There are also avoidable carcinogens that people knowingly expose themselves to. An example of an avoidable factor is exposure to ultraviolent rays from
UV rays have enough energy to damage the DNA is cells, causing uncontrolled division of those cells, otherwise known as cancer. The two most common types of skin cancer, basal cell and squamous cell, tend to be found on the areas exposed to sun, and their occurrence is related to lifelong sun exposure. Studies have shown that people who first use a tanning bed before the age of 35 increase their risk for basal or squamous skin cancer by 75 percent. Prevention from getting these types of skin cancer include applying sunscreen whenever under harsh sun conditions and not exposing skin to man-made ultraviolet radiation sources, for example, tanning beds. When in the developing years, the skin is more prone to being damaged, which is why it is important to prevent teens and young adults from excessive UV exposure. If youths are prohibited from the tanning bed industry, their skin will be less prone to developing basal cell or squamous cell skin
One of the main reasons that teenagers go to tanning beds is to darken their skin. According to Samantha Hessel, a student at the University of Wisconsin, “Society makes you feel being tanned is prettier than being pasty white” (Park). Hessel admits to CNN News that she started attending to tanning salons her freshman year of high school, and by the time she was a freshman in college, she had melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that laws should ban minors from going to tanning parlors, while the Indoor Tanning Association disagrees. They believe that the decision is “best left for parents, not the government” (Park). I agree with the American Academy of Pediatrics that the minors should not be able to go to tanning salons because not only are teenagers less capable of making responsible decisions, but these choices could be life altering as seen with the example above. Teens should not be able to make these decisions while they are under the pressure from media and society to be what is “beautiful”. They are increasing their chance of skin cancer by 75 percent and pre-aging their skin by 10 to 20 years in order to please others. If the goal in tanning is obtaining a darker skin, teens should be aware that there are other options to do so without the