Katherine Prendergast has been using tanning beds since she was in ninth grade and started attending school dances at Mt. Lebanon High School.

	Tony Tye, Post-Gazette Katherine Prendergast, 19, of Mount Lebanon, rubs the spray in after getting a spray-on tan last week at Hollywood Tans. Click photo for larger image. Related article About spray-on tans

"All my friends did it. Once you start going to dances, it's the thing to do," said Prendergast, now 19, who recently completed her freshman year at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

But during the past year, at the urging of her physician father, Dr. John Prendergast, and Lynne Tocchet, owner of a local tanning salon, the teen has been getting some of her golden look from the spray-on tans offered at the salon.

That's a move in a safer direction, say dermatologists who fear teens' visits to tanning beds will produce more deadly skin cancers and diagnoses at an earlier age.

As with Katherine, the quest for a perfect tan has become the goal of many teens, who fit in regular visits to the ultraviolet tanning beds amid homework assignments, music lessons and soccer practice. Unlimited monthly passes to tanning centers have become popular gifts for teens. Tocchet at Hollywood Tans in Mt. Lebanon said 25 percent of her customers are under age 18.

"Giving your kids a pass for a tanning salon is like giving them a certificate for a pack of Marlboro," said Dr. Loreta Matheo, director of adolescent and young adult medicine at Mercy Hospital.

Local physicians say they support a proposed law recently rejected by the California Legislature that would have blocked use of tanning beds by anyone under age 18 without a doctor's prescription.

"The cigarette industry does what it can to stop kids under 18 from buying them. I think the tanning industry has to do the same," said Dr. Douglas Kress, a dermatologist at Children's Hospital.

California's current law -- similar to that in some other states -- requires parental permission for anyone under 18 to use a tanning bed and bans its use for children under age 14.

Pennsylvania has no law that bans or limits teens from using tanning salons -- a situation that frustrates Dr. Brad Amos, chief of dermatology at Mercy Hospital.

"The National Institutes of Health lists UVB [ultraviolet] radiation as a known carcinogen. So why should teenagers be allowed to expose themselves to carcinogens without parental permission?" Amos asked.

The Indoor Tanning Association Inc., a trade group for the 25,000 tanning salons that represent a $5 billion business, claims on its Web site that "moderate tanning" -- defined by the association as tanning without burning -- is not harmful. And it points out the benefits of getting Vitamin D from the ultraviolet lights, which is important in bone formation. But the American Cancer Society recommends that people don't use tanning booths.

A Scandinavian study published last year showed that baking under a tanning bed's artificial lamps as little as once a month can boost by 55 percent a person's risk of developing the melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. The danger is even greater in early adulthood.

Exposure from ultraviolet lamps also increases the possibility of developing the less serious squamous cell and basal cell skin cancers, a Dartmouth University study showed in 2002.

Amos said parents may believe tanning salon ads that claim the ultraviolet lamps are safer than sunlight because the amount and types of the radiation can be controlled. What makes the issue complicated, the doctors said, is that the Food and Drug Administration does not regulate the amount ofUVA and UVB rays allowed in tanning beds, but rather limits it within a spectrum. UVB rays cause damaging burns, Kress said, and after continual use, it's possible that ultraviolet lamps are providing more UVB rays than desired. In addition, the concentration of the lamps' UVA rays is greater than that from the sun's rays.

"We've had cases of burns from a tanning salon," Kress said.

The FDA has recommended guidelines for how much exposure a person should have in tanning beds. In addition, it says a person should build up with short sessions to a full tan.

But studies have shown that users of tanning booths -- particularly teens -- often exceed the recommended times, Matheo said. In addition, users often forgo wearing eye protection, which can put them at risk for developing eye damage, such as early cataracts. Medications commonly used by teens -- antibiotics for acne and birth control pills -- are photo-sensitive, putting them at additional risk for more severe burns.Teens also mistakenly believe that once they have a tan, their skin is protected against sunburn, Matheo said.

A suntan provides a sun protection equivalent only to an SPF or "sun protection factor" of 4. The American Cancer Society recommends people use sunscreen with at least 15 SPF.

In his practice, Amos has seen a child as young as 12 with melanoma.

Most parents who allow their teens to use tanning beds don't understand the risk, Matheo believes.

Amos agreed. "It's going to take some time to get the message out and to change thinking."

Despite her parents' warnings about skin cancer and wrinkling, Katherine continued to use tanning beds. "You are not going to listen to that when you are young and want to look good," she said.

For teens who absolutely have to have a tan, Amos said the spray-on tans or self-tanning lotions are a safe way to go. In fact, nationally, the spray-on tans constitute the fastest growing part of the indoor tanning industry.

Tocchet of Hollywood Tans in Mt. Lebanon, a studio that offers spray-on tans and tanning booths, said a third of her business is in spray-on tans. Tocchet urges younger customers, in particular, to switch from the booth to the sprays, or at least substitute some sessions with the spray.

"I have a conscience. I used to tan a lot when I was younger, and I know that it's not good," Tocchet said.

She's done about 60 spray-on tan sessions on herself and is happy with the results.

Kress said there is no indication that any of the spray-on tanning products are harmful to the skin. But, he warned, though they produce a tan color on the skin they provide no sun protection.

Since using the sprays, Katherine says she's cut her tanning booth sessions from almost daily to one to two times per week.

"My parents are really happy about that."