Jenny Hetrick knows that tanning increases the risk of skin cancer, but for two years she's been a regular customer at Electric Beach tanning salon in Odenton.
Warnings about exposure to ultraviolet light - from the sun and tanning lamps - are not lost on her. But when the weather warms up, she likes to wear shorts and short-sleeved tops and, like her friends, she wants to look good in them. So she compromises and limits her tanning salon visits to about two a week.
"I think it's right that people should be careful. For teenage girls, tanning can really be addictive," said Hetrick, 20, of Severn.
As this year's outdoor tanning season begins, dermatologists know that millions will ignore warnings about the risks of skin cancer from overexposure to UV light. And, while a decade of warnings has put a crimp in the tanning salon business, up to 30 million people still bronze themselves in booths and tanning beds each year.
The peak indoor months, industry officials say, are May and June, when tanning enthusiasts are getting ready for a summer outdoors. "We're a species that evolved in the sun," explained John Overstreet, executive director of the Indoor Tanning Association.
But the fixation makes no sense to dermatologists.
"It's kind of like what happened with seat belts and cigarettes. People are recognizing the dangers, but for some individuals, it'll be years before they see the damage and it hits home," said Dr. John DiGiovanna, a dermatologist at the National Cancer Institute.
This year, there will be an estimated 108,230 new cases of melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, and the disease will cause 8,110 deaths, according to the American Cancer Society. At least
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some of those deaths could have been prevented if people just stayed out of the sun, experts say.
"We have a huge amount of evidence, from many, many different types of studies and sources, showing the role of UV light in skin cancer," DiGiovanna said.
More than 20 states restrict the use of tanning salons by minors, requiring them to have parental consent or prohibiting use by minors altogether. In Maryland, Del. Anne Healey has sponsored legislation for the past two years to ban young children from tanning in salons altogether. She plans to sponsor similar legislation next year.
"I'm still thinking about what the best way is to go about this," the Prince George's County Democrat said.
