WhitneyHealth Risks Associated With Tanning Beds
April 1st 2009 13:52
During the summer we all want tans, well most of us do anyway, but it can be hard to find time to actually sit out in the sun and bake, which is why you can find a tanning salon around nearly every corner that is almost always packed. Ten minutes and $30 later and you're done.
Well, I'm not a fan of it, and I'd rather use the sunless sun tanner any day. It's a whole lot cheaper, and it's a whole lot safer for your body. There really are a lot of health risks for going to the tanning bed once a week or even once every other week for an entire spring and summer season. Plus the fall and winter if you opt to keep up your tan during the darker months of the year.
When you use the tan with the artificial UV, you should make sure that you are aware of what risks you are causing yourself. The simple and much more common risks of tanning in a tanning bed can include, but are not limited to the following risks.
* High risks of cancer especially for people under 30 who tan with artificial UV
* Faster rate of aged, wrinkled skin, sun spots, and loss of skin elasticity
* Mutated DNA
* Reduced immune system functions
The US Public Health Services finds that these risks are much worse from tanning beds than from tanning with natural light due to the intensity and spectrum of the artificial UV.
Statistically, women who use a tanning bed at least once a month are about 55% more likely to develop melanoma (which is sometimes fatal) than women who don't use artificial UV to tan. Women who use sun lamps (tanning beds) in their 20s have the larges increase of cancer risk, which was about 150% higher than women than who don't.
There is good evidence that suggests that sun exposure can cause three main types of skin cancer to include basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma are thought to be caused by a combination of both UVA and UVB, where melanoma is thought to be caused by UVA.
Exposure to UV radiation can induce at least two genetic mutations, including cyclobutane–pyrimidine dimers and 6–4 photo products and their Dewar valence isomers, depending on whether it's UVA or UVB light. Although, there are DNA repair enzymes that can help fix some mutations, they are not 100% effective. These DNA mutations are very common and are fairly rapid in regards to tanning bed usage.
The UVA light is probably the light that is causing your nice pretty bronze color, but it's closely associated with aging skin and wrinkle production, so even though you're young and tanning now, you are destroying the collagen and connective tissues beneath your skin, which will cause premature aging, wrinkles, sun spots, and loss of skin elasticity. Basically, you'll look older before you're ready, and not a good older that gets you into bars and buys you drinks without being carded.
Tanning beds and exposure to UV radiation can have a detrimental effect on your immune system as well because it reduces the activity level of natural killer cells and T cells. UV exposure is also thought to facilitate the spread of skin-associated infections because the T cells are suppressed.
You can even develop arc eye when you don't use goggles in the tanning bed.
And, although it's rare, you can even get infections of public lice (crabs) if the surface of the tanning bed isn't cleaned properly or if the towels are not washed in hot water.
Tanning Bed Versus Natural Tanning
So UV light in any sense an in excess without protection is going to be bad for your skin and body, but there is going to be a difference between tanning with artificial UV and with natural UV.
Basically when you tan in a tanning bed, you are receiving about 3 to 8 times more UVA than in the sun. The carcinogenic mutations in some skin cancers as well as aging skin and wrinkles have been linked to UVA versus UVB, which suggests that tanning beds have a slightly different risk than natural lighting since natural lighting has more UVB rays.
The radiation levels are more intense in a tanning bed than under the sun, as well, which means that you should greatly limit the time you spend in a tanning bed. You can easily become sunburnt in a tanning bed because you do not realize the burning, redness, and signs of burning as quickly.
Plus, because the tan of a tanning bed is not nearly as deep as the tan of sunlight, it can cause a person with a fairly dark tan from a tanning bed to become badly sunburned when tanning outside since the deeper skin tissues have not been exposed to the UV. It is not recommended that a person who tans with artificial UV not tan with natural UV on the same day because there is a high risk of overexposure, destroying the melanin in the skin causing a sunburn and less tanning results. Remember that when you are sunburned, that does not turn into a tan later on, but just increases future risks of cancer.
Studies on the actual difference between natural UV and artificial UV are not 100% accurate because people who tan in tanning beds are also exposed to natural lighting as well.
You will find that natural light is good to help the body synthesize Vitamin D because of the UVB, which is required for calcium absorption, but the body requires less than what a single 10 minute tanning session will provide.
Well, I'm not a fan of it, and I'd rather use the sunless sun tanner any day. It's a whole lot cheaper, and it's a whole lot safer for your body. There really are a lot of health risks for going to the tanning bed once a week or even once every other week for an entire spring and summer season. Plus the fall and winter if you opt to keep up your tan during the darker months of the year.
When you use the tan with the artificial UV, you should make sure that you are aware of what risks you are causing yourself. The simple and much more common risks of tanning in a tanning bed can include, but are not limited to the following risks.
* High risks of cancer especially for people under 30 who tan with artificial UV
* Faster rate of aged, wrinkled skin, sun spots, and loss of skin elasticity
* Mutated DNA
* Reduced immune system functions
The US Public Health Services finds that these risks are much worse from tanning beds than from tanning with natural light due to the intensity and spectrum of the artificial UV.
Statistically, women who use a tanning bed at least once a month are about 55% more likely to develop melanoma (which is sometimes fatal) than women who don't use artificial UV to tan. Women who use sun lamps (tanning beds) in their 20s have the larges increase of cancer risk, which was about 150% higher than women than who don't.
There is good evidence that suggests that sun exposure can cause three main types of skin cancer to include basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma are thought to be caused by a combination of both UVA and UVB, where melanoma is thought to be caused by UVA.
Exposure to UV radiation can induce at least two genetic mutations, including cyclobutane–pyrimidine dimers and 6–4 photo products and their Dewar valence isomers, depending on whether it's UVA or UVB light. Although, there are DNA repair enzymes that can help fix some mutations, they are not 100% effective. These DNA mutations are very common and are fairly rapid in regards to tanning bed usage.
Tanning beds and exposure to UV radiation can have a detrimental effect on your immune system as well because it reduces the activity level of natural killer cells and T cells. UV exposure is also thought to facilitate the spread of skin-associated infections because the T cells are suppressed.
You can even develop arc eye when you don't use goggles in the tanning bed.
And, although it's rare, you can even get infections of public lice (crabs) if the surface of the tanning bed isn't cleaned properly or if the towels are not washed in hot water.
Tanning Bed Versus Natural Tanning
So UV light in any sense an in excess without protection is going to be bad for your skin and body, but there is going to be a difference between tanning with artificial UV and with natural UV.
Basically when you tan in a tanning bed, you are receiving about 3 to 8 times more UVA than in the sun. The carcinogenic mutations in some skin cancers as well as aging skin and wrinkles have been linked to UVA versus UVB, which suggests that tanning beds have a slightly different risk than natural lighting since natural lighting has more UVB rays.
The radiation levels are more intense in a tanning bed than under the sun, as well, which means that you should greatly limit the time you spend in a tanning bed. You can easily become sunburnt in a tanning bed because you do not realize the burning, redness, and signs of burning as quickly.
Plus, because the tan of a tanning bed is not nearly as deep as the tan of sunlight, it can cause a person with a fairly dark tan from a tanning bed to become badly sunburned when tanning outside since the deeper skin tissues have not been exposed to the UV. It is not recommended that a person who tans with artificial UV not tan with natural UV on the same day because there is a high risk of overexposure, destroying the melanin in the skin causing a sunburn and less tanning results. Remember that when you are sunburned, that does not turn into a tan later on, but just increases future risks of cancer.
Studies on the actual difference between natural UV and artificial UV are not 100% accurate because people who tan in tanning beds are also exposed to natural lighting as well.
You will find that natural light is good to help the body synthesize Vitamin D because of the UVB, which is required for calcium absorption, but the body requires less than what a single 10 minute tanning session will provide.
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