Be wise in the sun, Salt Lake County urged due to high skin cancer rates in Utah

Melissa Shepherd visited tanning beds two to three times a month in high school to get the "hot look," but after being diagnosed with melanoma more than 10 years later, she wishes she could take it back.

The 30-year-old nurse was pregnant when she found out the skin cancer was growing on her hip.

"I don't know for sure if that's what caused it, but I had heard the misconception that it was safe to tan indoors, and I truly did believe that," said Shepherd, who works on the melanoma team at Huntsman Cancer Institute and sees her share of burnt red skin. "Now I know that depending on the tanning bed, it can be five times the UV exposure. Now I go with the tanning mist."

And to prevent similar misconceptions and unsafe exposure to ultraviolet rays, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon declared Friday SunWise Day in the county, coinciding with national Don't Fry Day as part of a school- and community-based program to educate students about sun safety.

The county recently joined 21,000 SunWise schools across the country that participate in the Environmental Protection Agency program to teach children about the dangers of overexposure to the sun. The county is asking schools to sign up to receive the program's tool kit, which is equipped with information about wearing sunscreen, staying in the shade and wearing a hat and sunglasses.

"What we need in Utah is a return to common sense," said Glen Bowen, a clinical melanoma researcher at Huntsman Cancer Institute, which is working with the county on a complementary program to teach lifeguards about sun exposure. "We don't treat the sun the same as our ancestors. My grandpa wore a hat, overalls and a long-sleeve shirt."

Skin cancer, a severe type of cancer that is often caused by excessive exposure to UV rays, affects one out of every five people nationwide.

"Someone dies every 50 minutes in the U.S. from skin cancer," Brown said. The melanoma researcher said Utahns are typically born of northern European ancestors higher up in latitude, and people now living in Utah can't handle the sun's rays.

"We really have a change in latitude and a change in altitude, so now we need a change in attitude toward the sun," Bowen said.

Utah rates low in tobacco use and other types of cancer, but with skin cancer, the Beehive State is 1.5 times higher than the national average.