Malignant melanoma incidence has been rising steadily since the 1930 s 40 years before indoor tanning salons ever came into being. Correlation does not equal causation. Studies which loosely connect indoor tanning with permanent skin damage fall short of proving that indoor tanning caused the damage. That s because there are any confounding variables and no study to date has ever accounted for them fully. Indeed, researchers admit that it may not be possible to accurately measure an individual s sunburn history the variable most strongly associated with permanent skin damage.
Lobbyists never talk about the volumes of research that contradict what they claim.
Even the Swedish study claims that indoor tanners had no greater risk of melanoma on their heads and necks a finding the lobbyists chose to ignore. What that finding suggests is that sunburn which is more common on the less-exposed trunk of the body is the problem, not just mere exposure. Additionally, previous studies of indoor tanners have shown no positive correlation between indoor tanning and malignant melanoma. This, of course, is always left out of the lobbyists cases. Preliminary research is not evidence.