By Joseph Levy, American Suntanning Association

The professional tanning community can take pride in the fact that when we do our jobs correctly, we are part of the solution – not part of the problem – in the fight against sunburn.

Now more than ever, the data tell that story. Non-tanners do most of the sunburning outside today, according to the government’s own data.

In promoting our responsible story to legislators nationwide, I still occasionally stumble across anti-sun groups who quote a 2014 study asking the public to believe that sunbeds cause 3,234 emergency room visits per year in the United States.

ASA debunked this in 2015. It’s worth re-telling how ridiculous that bogus statistic was.

That’s because 3,234 wasn’t a real number. It was a manufactured number. And as you look closer and closer at the math used to create it, you have to wonder how it ever got published.

Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.