(McClatchy-Tribune Information Services) -- Myrtle Jones of Raleigh has been soaking up rays for almost 60 years and doesn't plan on stopping -- not even in the face of a new report that moves tanning beds and ultraviolet radiation into the top category of cancer risk.

"I'm not really worried about cancer at my age," said Jones, 78, who regularly visits Planet Beach Tanning Spa on Edwards Mill Road. "If I were younger, I probably wouldn't continue to tan because I know it causes skin damage. I can see spots on my arm from overexposure."

Other Triangle residents plan to keep visiting the tanning bed regularly despite the new finding by international cancer experts that the risk of skin cancer jumps by 75 percent when people start using the devices before age 30.

Amber Hardison, 28, of Raleigh says she refuses to let doctors tell her how to live her life. She has been tanning for 12 years despite a physician's instruction to avoid the sun.

"I have burns from fire on my legs, and doctors told me to avoid the sun," said Hardison, who tans once a week at Planet Beach. "But it makes my scars look better."

Seeking that sun-kissed glow from a tanning bed carries a deadlier risk than previously suspected, according to a new analysis of 20 previous studies by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization.

Published online Wednesday in the Lancet Oncology medical journal, the study shows a definite link between tanning beds and skin cancer risk and also shows that the devices increase the risk of ocular melanoma, a rare eye cancer. The study places tanning beds alongside arsenic and mustard gas in the top cancer risk category.

The organization's cancer experts also found that all types of ultraviolet light caused mutations in mice; previously, only one kind was thought to cause cancer. As a result, the study recommends steering clear of tanning parlors and sunlamps in order to avoid overexposure to UV rays.

John Overstreet, executive director of Indoor Tanning Association, claims the risk has been blown out of proportion.

"The real story here is that there is no story," Overstreet said, convinced that tanning beds are the same thing as sunlight. "UV light from a tanning bed is just like UV light from the sun. There are the same benefits and risks."

The key in tanning is moderation, said Jim Barnhill, owner of two Planet Beach Tanning Spa sites. "We have doctors and nurses that tan with us, and if they do it moderately and follow recommended session intervals it's very effective," he said.

Barnhill defends the beds, pointing out that ultraviolet radiation provides the body with vitamin D. Some research suggests vitamin D may play a role in preventing cancer, according to Heathline. "Americans are vitamin D deficient because people don't allow their body to get sun," he said. "So people that come in and tan do it because they don't want to get a sunburn outside and can build up a natural SPF using the tanning bed."

He said that a few people have come into the spa with notes from doctors, urging them to be exposed to ultraviolet light because of vitamin D deficiency.

Overstreet, with the Indoor Tanning Association, agrees.

"It's a great way to avoid getting burned because you're in a controlled environment," Overstreet said. "As long as your exposure is moderate, it presents the same risks and benefits as regular sunlight."

Jim Worrell of Raleigh has been tanning regularly since his early 20s and has never had a problem.

"I tan a couple times a week and see a dermatologist regularly," Worrell, 47, said. "I don't think it's anything worse than anything else we do to expose ourselves."

Copyright (C) 2009, The News