MAY 14, 2009 — Almost half of tanning salon owners say the number of doctors tanning in their businesses has increased in the past 12 months, according to a SmartTan.com poll conducted this month.

“This is another sign that the medical community is accepting the fact that regular UV exposure is natural and intended for humans and that doctors themselves know that sun scare warnings are overblown and deceptive,” Smart Tan Vice President Joseph Levy said.

According to the poll, 48 percent of tanning business owners say the number of doctors tanning in their salons has increased in the past 12 months, while only 10 percent say that number has decreased. Forty-two percent said the figure had not changed. The results are not scientific, but their directional nature is consistent with other Smart Tan findings.

“We’ve known for more than a decade that 70 percent of tanning facility owners have tanning clients who they know are medical doctors. Further, 70 percent of salons have clients referred to them by doctors for indoor tanning services,” Levy said. “Big Dermatology may try to intimidate doctors from acknowledging that UV exposure is natural and necessary, but when it comes to actual practice, doctors love being in the sun.”

Exposure to UVB from sunlight or from indoor tanning is the body’s most abundant source of vitamin D and the only natural source consistent with the production of Natural Vitamin D levels in the body.