‘Sun Scare’ leaders are twisting statistics about skin cancer in order to scare people away from sunlight.

MSNBC.com and MyHealthNewsDaily ran an article Monday claiming that young people should be afraid of indoor tanning because melanoma mortality is increasing — even though it isn’t according to the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute.

According to the MSNBC article, “While overall cancer death rates declined by 19 percent in men and 11 percent in women between 1991 and 2005, the death rate for melanoma increased by 5 percent.”

But that’s not true, according to the American Cancer Society’s own publication, “Cancer Facts and Figures” which gets its information from the National Cancer Institute.

“During the 1970’s, the incidence rate of melanoma increased rapidly by about 6% per year. However, from 1981-2000, the rate of increase slowed to 3% per year and since 2000 melanoma incidence has been stable…The death rate for melanoma has been decreasing rapidly in whites younger than 50, by 3% per year since 1991 in men and by 2.3% per year since 1985 in women,” ACS reported in its Cancer Facts and Figures document in 2008.

The National Cancer Institute also shows that melanoma mortality has declined since the advent of indoor tanning in the populations who use tanning equipment most frequently.

In contrast, melanoma incidence and mortality continue to increase in men over the age of 50 — the group by far most likely to contract melanoma and still the least likely to use indoor tanning equipment.

Melanoma also continues to be most common in indoor workers — which would not be possible if it had a straightforward relationship with sun exposure. Indoor workers get 4-9 times less UV light as compared to outdoor workers. Some studies also suggest that the only increases in melanoma incidence have occurred in indoor workers.

The MSNBC story came after the American Academy of Dermatology conducted an uncontrolled internet survey this year which showed that 8 percent of teen-age women use tanning equipment regularly. AAD reported the results to the press that “32 percent had used sunbeds and that 25 percent of that group tanned regularly” instead of reporting that 8 percent tanned regularly.

AAD’s study also showed that 81 percent of young people tan outdoors — a far greater number.

Sunburn prevention outdoors continues to be the issue, even though ‘Sun Scare’ leaders continue to misdirect their public information campaigns at the professional sunbed community,” Smart Tan Vice President Joseph Levy said. “If this were truly a health-care debate, more of their message would be directed at older men — who get the most melanomas by far and for whom the statistics are increasing. Instead they continue to use sunbeds themselves to treat purely cosmetic diseases at 20-times the price of what a tanning salon charges and they continue to direct fear-based messaging that the consumer group most likely to use their services.”

Smart Tan continues to promote a proper and balanced message about sunlight and the correct usage of chemical sunscreen as an occasional-use product to be used only to prevent sunburn.