# Soon the Calif. Girls will be tanning at the beach or pool again. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 9, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113 "2011-10-09T22:11:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/1 "2011-10-09T22:11:25Z")
Bill seems totally unenforceable. Try banning the sun Governor. 😛 All this does is push sunbathers back outside by the pool, backyards,decks, or beach. How’s big brother going to stop people using tanning beds or those tanning bulbs they own at home? I thought tanning beds became popular because they were considered a little safer than cooking in the sun? I never sunbathed myself. I get some tanning working in the yard but haven’t tanned on purpose in decades. > [@](#): > > Minors in the state of California will no longer be allowed to use tanning beds after Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill on Sunday prohibiting anyone under the age of 18 from using ultraviolet tanning devices. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44837627/ns/health-skin\_and\_beauty/#.TpIa93KFxK0](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44837627/ns/health-skin_and_beauty/#.TpIa93KFxK0) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/2 "2011-10-09T22:27:30Z")
Also, if I had teenagers right now I’d worry even more about spray tans. Getting hosed down in dyes & chemicals seems like a very bad idea. We have no idea what thirty years of spray tans will do to someone. That’s a lot of chemicals absorbed into the skin. I rather my kids tan in the yard on a beach towel with a bottle of Coppertone before I’d let them get spray tans. A real tan lasts all summer. Spray tans have to be constantly reapplied. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/3 "2011-10-09T22:33:44Z")
I actually think this a good move. Outdoor tanning is no match for tanning beds, when it comes to convenience, time it takes to tan and just overall ease of use. There is no waiting for the sunlight, cursing the clouds, positioning your body to compensate for the sun’s angle, etc. What takes 15 minutes in a tanning bed takes several hours in the sun (and that’s assuming it’s uninterrupted sun). Many teens, given their hectic schedules, would have no ability to tan at all were it not for the availability of tanning beds. They become addicted, and it becomes a daily (or nearly daily) part of their routines. Forcing them to sit in the sun for hours on end would likely break the habits for many. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/4 "2011-10-09T22:33:49Z")
Tanning beds are not safer than the sun- that’s a myth created by the tanning bed industry. Tanning has been shown to be addictive. The vast majority of sun damage that cause skin cancer in later years is done before age 20. All very good reasons to not let minors use tanning beds. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/5 "2011-10-09T22:35:27Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Also, if I had teenagers right now I’d worry even more about spray tans. > > Getting hosed down in dyes & chemicals seems like a very bad idea. We have no idea what thirty years of spray tans will do to someone. That’s a lot of chemicals absorbed into the skin. > > I rather my kids tan in the yard on a beach towel with a bottle of Coppertone before I’d let them get spray tans. A real tan lasts all summer. Spray tans have to be constantly reapplied. A ‘real tan’ most certainly does not last all summer. A tan begins to fade a few days after it’s attained, if it’s not maintained by more tanning. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/6 "2011-10-09T22:45:16Z")
I guess my arms and legs didn’t get that memo. 😉 I get my sun working in the flowerbeds and yard in the Spring. My arms & legs are brown the rest of the summer and even into the Fall. I’m not outside much at all in July or August. Too darn hot for me. The majority of the sun I get is in the Spring. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/7 "2011-10-09T22:48:54Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > Tanning beds are not safer than the sun- that’s a myth created by the tanning bed industry. Tanning has been shown to be addictive. The vast majority of sun damage that cause skin cancer in later years is done before age 20. All very good reasons to not let minors use tanning beds. Yes, and now that that myth has been busted, the industry is pushing their latest bullshit; that no one in America gets enough vitamin D and the only way to make sure you get enough is to sit in a tanning bed. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/8 "2011-10-09T22:50:56Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Getting hosed down in dyes & chemicals seems like a very bad idea. We have no idea what thirty years of spray tans will do to someone. That’s a lot of chemicals absorbed into the skin. No more than the numerous bottles of chemicals teens lather their bodies and hair with\* every day\*. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/9 "2011-10-09T22:54:47Z")
Some people get absolutely zero sun because they are indoors all the time. These gamer kids are never anywhere except at their console. They don’t drink milk either. vitamin D deficiency is a growing health problem. You don’t need a lot of sun. Even taking walks outside a few times a week is plenty. But you do need a little sun. Humans aren’t vampires that live in caves 24/7. You Certainly don’t need a tanning bed unless you want to turn dark brown every year. I never wanted to get that dark myself. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/10 "2011-10-09T23:13:26Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > How’s big brother going to stop people using tanning beds or those tanning bulbs they own at home? You can’t. But the number of people who own a tanning bed is pretty small, and only a tiny percentage of those are under 18, so the number of people who would be affected by this bill who would use a tanning bed at home is incredibly small. > [@](#): > > I thought tanning beds became popular because they were considered a little safer than cooking in the sun? No. They became popular because they were demonstrably _faster_ than cooking in the sun and because they weren’t weather dependent. You could have a tan in the summer that took a few minutes a few times a week instead of sweltering in the sun for hours and hours. And in less-sunny climes, you could have a tan in the winter, period. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/11 "2011-10-09T23:38:01Z")
Any tan, of any sort, is an outward sign of damage being done to the DNA in your skin. And, the damage is cumulative. Every time you get a tan, you’re piling that damage on top of what’s already there. Eventually, some people’s DNA gets so damaged that you end up with skin cancer. Tanning beds are most definitely _not_ safer than sunning, and are, in fact, as others have said, an easy, convenient, and year-round method of repeatedly damaging your skin. As opposed to lying in the sun, which at least limits the opportunities due to convenience, weather, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/12 "2011-10-09T23:56:13Z")
And, of course, the fact that tanning beds are faster than natural sun exposure is precisely why they’re more dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/13 "2011-10-10T00:12:14Z")
Seems like a great law. I think it would be wrong to ban tanning beds for adults (no matter how dumb it is to use them), but restricting teen use seems prudent. ---
**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/14 "2011-10-10T04:52:58Z")
Law Prohibits Nation’s Shawnas from Using Tanning Beds. [http://www.theonion.com/video/law-prohibits-nations-shawnas-from-using-tanning-b,19986/](http://www.theonion.com/video/law-prohibits-nations-shawnas-from-using-tanning-b,19986/) > [@](#): > > The Health and Human Services says that the country’s Shawnas are “tan enough.” ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/15 "2011-10-10T12:58:48Z")
It’s not that different from banning minors from smoking or drinking. They’re trying to save them from their own stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/16 "2011-10-10T13:17:25Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Some people get absolutely zero sun because they are indoors all the time. These gamer kids are never anywhere except at their console. They don’t drink milk either. vitamin D deficiency is a growing health problem. According to the sprog’s pediatrician and the school nurse, this is partly an unintended consequence of protection from the sun. When kids spend time outside, they’re slathered in sunscreen and covered up in clothes, which can block Vitamin D production because they block the sun’s rays that are responsible for that. For this reason, the sprog’s school does not allow kids to put sunscreen on before recess; the 15 minutes they spend outside is enough for Vitamin D production and not enough to cause problems. Granted, if the child is spending much more time than that outside, they need to be slathered in sunscreen to prevent sun-related damage. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/17 "2011-10-11T14:04:50Z")
It’s interesting how few of my acquaintances here in S FLA have tans. It’s too hot outside for too much of the year to get a tan. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/18 "2011-10-11T23:26:24Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > It’s interesting how few of my acquaintances here in S FLA have tans. It’s too hot outside for too much of the year to get a tan. It’s like that here in Las Vegas, too. As a matter of fact, it’s one way to tell the tourists from the locals. If someone shows signs of recent sun prolonged sun exposure, the odds are, they’re a tourist. Whereas those of us who live here tend to the pasty white side, from living like damn mole people all the time, inside in the air conditioning. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/19 "2011-10-12T07:14:12Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > It’s not that different from banning minors from smoking or drinking. They’re trying to save them from their own stupidity. Yes it is. Smoking and drinking are physically addicting. They aren’t being protected from the danger itself, but from not being able to make a rational choice when they get older. Someone who tans as a kid can easily decide to stop as an adult. And spray tans still look horrible, and I don’t see how causing the same reaction in your skin as tanning can be known to not be dangerous over the long term. That’s all that’s going to happen: more spray tans. At least, until California decides that that’s too dangerous, too. The days of pale equals beautiful are as long gone as fat beauties. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113/20 "2011-10-12T17:31:18Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Yes it is. Smoking and drinking are physically addicting. They aren’t being protected from the danger itself, but from not being able to make a rational choice when they get older. Someone who tans as a kid can easily decide to stop as an adult. > > And spray tans still look horrible, and I don’t see how causing the same reaction in your skin as tanning can be known to not be dangerous over the long term. That’s all that’s going to happen: more spray tans. At least, until California decides that that’s too dangerous, too. > > The days of pale equals beautiful are as long gone as fat beauties. Tanning can be addictive as well… > **[Redirect Notice](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CDUQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.time.com%2Ftime%2Fhealth%2Farticle%2F0%2C8599%2C1983141%2C00.html&ei=hc6VTuK5DYOesQK8_MzvAQ&usg=AFQjCNGeWrjLLh7NeLeM5xDiSGmXp7A1BQ)** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soon-the-calif-girls-will-be-tanning-at-the-beach-or-pool-again/599113.md?page=2)