The Dangers of Tanning Beds

For many years since the 80’s, people have been taking tanning salons, or tanning beds as a safe alternative to basking under the sun. These machines were said to produce UVA rays and not UVB rays which are the cause of most sunburns.

Researchers have since found that tanning beds do produce UVB rays as well. Besides, UVA rays are not as safe as once thought. These rays can penetrate deeper into the skin and cause damages to the dermis, the true skin.

Articles from the Skin Cancer Foundation reveal that the high pressure sunlamps used in tanning salons emit doses of UVA as much as 12 times that of the sun. As a result, people frequent tanning salons are 2.5 times more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma, and 1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma. In terms of the risk of developing melanoma, it is almost twice as often as other people. For youth exposing to tanning beds, the likelihood of melanoma happening in the latter part of their life could be as high as 75%.

The idea of using tanning beds to create a safe “base tan” first before exposing to the natural sun has proved false as well. It does nothing to prevent sunburn.

Getting your tan by way of the machine or directly from the natural sun is equally dangerous. The more we know about these ultra-violet rays, the more we have to ask ourselves the question: is the tan worth the risk?