RFK Jr. clears path for minors to use tanning beds, much to dermatologist dismay

54 points
1/21/1970
8 hours ago
by randycupertino

Comments


jerlam

If I'm reading the article correctly, he's cancelling a proposed federal ban. So status quo remains, tanning beds are not federally banned but continue to be banned in 19 states for minors.

12 minutes ago

replwoacause

That's because RFK Jr's dermatologist sees him walk in and starts shopping for a lake house. The man is walking melanoma.

6 hours ago

georgemcbay

> The man is walking melanoma.

Nothing a few pounds of ivermectin can't fix.

/s

5 hours ago

PyWoody

Best I can do is some sewage runoff.

4 hours ago

LocalH

Can I interest you in a nice brain worm?

3 hours ago

butterknife

6 hours ago

ktallett

God! This is only going to make the parents of pageant kids even more horrifying. Not only do you dress your child up like a street walker, but you will also give them skin cancer as well.

4 hours ago

throw1234567891

Who cares, natural selection at work.

2 hours ago

collingreen

Booo

I dont think it is ever ok to justify hurting the kids because we don't like the parents.

2 hours ago

susiecambria

So get rid of antidepressants but bring on tanning beds! YES. America IS healthy again. Sigh.

2 hours ago

amavect

I think the increased UVA poses the most risk of damage. I don't know of any metabolic use for UVA. As the article notes, tanning beds have a far worse UVB:UVA ratio than sunlight.

Because UVB scatters more than UVA (Rayleigh scattering), shade increases the UVB:UVA ratio from 1:1 to about 0.52:0.35 under a shade umbrella, or 0.53:0.37 under a tree. See Table 1 (paywalled, sorry) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsbmb.2005.04.039

of course, most that go to a tanning booth care more about looks than health

5 hours ago

theendisney

I like vitamine D. The salmon is full of mercury, the hemp is criminalized, there is either not enough sun, to much, we dont have time or we have reduced capacity to produce. 50% has a deficiency and many can probably use more than the bare minimum.

UVB shouldnt just be legal, it should be mandatory.

6 hours ago

malcolmgreaves

About 5 minutes of sunlight exposure is the maximum amount you can absorb and use to make vitimin D. Everything after that point is harmful radiation.

5 hours ago

amavect

Mostly right, but only for light skin (and depends on the month and the latitude) (Table 1, Table 3). Dark skin usually needs 10-15 minutes (Table 2), and even 20 minutes for the darkest skin (Table 4). https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16101489

5 hours ago

kaikai

I read the summary thoroughly and scanned the rest, and I don’t think the paper supports the grandparent comment.

The paper says you can produce enough vitamin d to maintain healthy levels from a specific amount of sunlight per day, depending on latitude and skin color.

The original comment suggests that there’s some (very short!) limit beyond which the body is unable to produce more vitamin d, which is very different. I’d be very curious to see sources for that.

5 hours ago

amavect

Ah, I didn't read their comment too strictly.

UVB synthesizes cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) in the skin, which the liver converts into calcifediol (what blood tests usually measure), which the kidneys convert to calcitriol (the active hormone). Wiki claims the kidneys have a negative feedback loop, converting excess calcifediol into inactive 24,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol. I wish I had better sources (for my vitamin D pdf folder).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D#Excess

But just knowing that, I don't immediately see anything limiting cholecalciferol or calcifediol amount and storage.

4 hours ago

plorg

The same wiki article says there is a limit to the capacity of synthesis by UVB due to the quantity of reagent 7-dehydrocholesterol produced in the skin, but I don't know the math on what amount of exposure would be required to hit that limit - presumably it (or something like it) is covered in the article above.

4 hours ago

solid_fuel

Don't bother quoting facts to these guys. We're being governed by people who make decisions based on their feelings, not material reality.

4 hours ago

pstuart

It's not just vitamin D, it's other things too (e.g., NO -- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10539323/).

But yes, one can have too much of a good thing in this regard.

an hour ago