Tanning Beds and Skin Cancer
What is UV radiation?
Before one can discuss harmful effects of tanning equipment and increased sun exposure, one must be familiar with the components of ultraviolet light and how affects the skin. Sunlight contains two types of ultraviolet (UV) light: UVA and UVB. UVA rays consist of longer wavelengths that penetrate deep into the dermal layer of skin. Limited exposure to UVA rays causes skin to tan; however, most experts agree that overexposure to UVA can lead to other long-term skin damage. UVB rays’ wavelengths are much shorter, affecting the outermost layers of skin. UVB rays are known as the "burning rays" and are considered more dangerous. Tanning beds and sun lamps generally emit 93% to 99% UVA
…show more content…
Tanning beds, therefore, have the power to control exposure time and the ratio of UVA to UVB rays for a "perfect balance" (http://www.shop.net/suncity/). Since tanning beds filter out most of the burning UVB rays, chances of getting burned decrease dramatically (http://www.darquetan.com/faq.htm). Therefore, the companies can claim that the tanning beds cannot be any more harmful than the sun.
Tanning salons also state that some UV radiation is needed for the manufacturing of vitamin D. Vitamin D certifies that a constant level of calcium remains in the blood and controls its absorption. In an advertisement for tanning equipment, one tanning bed company, The Beach House Tanning, claims that the sun is the only source of Vitamin D (http://www.beachouse.com/tanning_benefits.htm). However, vitamin D is also found in foods such as dairy products, cereal, and fish (http://shrike.depaul.edu/~vbard/vitdpg.html), and it takes far less UV radiation to obtain the necessary amount of vitamin D than it does to get a suntan (http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/tanning.html).
In addition, tanning industries claim that UVA radiation has no harmful effects on the skin. They say that only UVB radiation can harm the outermost layer of the skin. Since UVA rays penetrate deep into the skin, then they say that tanning beds cannot cause any type of premature aging, burn the skin, or thicken
people always disregard the effects that tanning beds may have on his or her body. The
Sharon Miller is the author of this article and is part of FDA. In this article she discusses how each type of uv rays damage the skin and which uv ray is used in tanning beds. This is relevant to my topic because it demonstrates the risk of skin cancer. Many people think tanning gives them a ¨healthy¨ glow, but in reality a tan is a sign on skin damage. UV-B rays burn the top layer of skin resulting in a sunburn in most cases. UV-A rays burn into a deeper layer of the skin causing a rash to appear. Tanning beds emit UV-B rays and UV-A rays, which is why you tend to get a sunburn before turning dark. The UV-B rays cause your body to emit more melanin, which is a pigment that darkens the skin. This is why we get tan in the summer whether it
The difference between the sun and a tanning bed are the amount of UVA and UVB rays that are emitted, tanning beds, use fluorescent bulbs that emit predominantly UVA with a small amount of UVB. The Sun emits way more UVB than a tanning bed. The skin cancer foundation said “UVA exacerbates the cancer-causing effects of UVB, and is the main wavelength behind photo-aging…It penetrates more deeply and causes more genetic damage in the skin cells where most skin cancers arise.” On the website “YoExpert” they wrote an easy way to remember the difference between UVA and UVB and their side effects is UVA = Aging UVB= Burn. So if if one was worried about burning in the sun then a tanning bed is the way to go. Bad things are that a tanning bed will make
found at tanning salons and some people even have their own personal ones in their homes. They contain about 24 to 60 lamps. There are two types of ultraviolet radiation that affect skin. They are called UVA and UVB. Tanning beds use more UVA light which penetrates deeper layers of the epidermis. People absorb more UV rays by using tanning beds rather than just tanning outside or at the beach. Some people just use them for special events like weddings or prom but the “radiation from just 10 indoor tanning sessions in two weeks can suppress a
In the article, “Warning: That Tan Could Be Hazardous. Indoor Tanning Poses Cancer Risks, Teenagers Lear” the writer, Sabrina Tavernise discusses how tanning indoors in tanning beds will put people at a higher risk for Melanoma, especially teen tanners because they are at such a young age.
Most people go to salons or anywhere else to get a tan and they will ask “Are tanning beds dangerous?” The employee will probably say no, they are totally safe, but the truth is tanning beds are not safe! Ultra-violet rays from tanning beds are stronger than the sun’s rays. In addition, tanning beds put out fifteen times the radiation given off the sun. Moreover, tan is one’s body response to injury. Therefore, a tan is dangerous to younger people. To add, tanning beds are riskier than sun exposure and cause melanoma. The risk of melanoma goes up by seventy-five percent when one uses a tanning bed. However, not only is one more
The basic component in tanning is ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet light, whether produced by a tanning unit or by the sun, contains two components; UVA and UVB. These are the two types of ultraviolet radiation that are known to negatively effect the skin. UVA has a longer wavelength that causes photoaging and can produce some melanomas. UVB has a shorter wavelength that also causes photoaging and has been implicated in skin cancers. Photoaging is the premature aging or deep wrinkling of skin. Indoor tanning units utilize both forms of light waves to tan a person with a minimized risk of sunburn. Tanning outdoors does not give you this option because the sun omits every type of UV rays, so a person is more likely to burn. A person’s skin epidermis consists of two layers: The germinative layer and the horny layer. Another name for the germinative layer is the “living layer.” And another name for the horny layer is the “dead” layer. When exposed to ultraviolet light, melanocytes in the germinative layer produce melanin that is absorbed by surrounding cells. Melanin is a dark pigment found in the pigment-bearing cells of the skin, and melanocytes are epidermal cells capable of synthesizing melanin. This creates a protective barrier from ultraviolet light reaching deeper into the layers of the skin. The pale pink melanin granules are stored in the core of keratin cells. UVA darkens the melanin,
Many people think that is it possible to achieve a “healthy tan,” but this thought has been proven wrong. Overexpose to UV-A and UV-B rays from the sun lead to premature aging of the skin, as well as the possible formation of skin cancer, know as melanoma. An appearance of a tan is actually a stage of burning and damage to the skin. Although a tan may be desirable to many, the fact remains that more people need to be educated on the dangers of the sun’s harmful rays, and the possible health complications of overexposure.
So this bring me back to the question, what side are you on? I’m personally against banning tanning beds, many think if beds are used the right way, they can be safer. If tanning beds are used correctly, then there is minimal damage done to the body of the person being tanned because you control the time you
The reasoning behind this is because tanning beds are bad for one's skin, health, and no one takes into consideration how much damage they can cause. 35% of all American adults, 59% of college students, 17% of all teens tan, but yet no one seems to realize the damage because it is so easy to become addicted to. “Tanning beds have been declared as carcinogen (cancer-crawling substances). Tanning beds can lead to long term effects like wrinkling in the skin, damage to collagen of skin, cataracts and mutations that impair the DNA’s normal functions. But tanning beds can also lead to eye cancer and damage to the tissue. There are many other things out there that people can use instead of going into a tanning bed and damaging their skin each time they go. They have things such as tanning lotion, creams or sprays that are not harmful to the body. “Endorphins trigger a positive feeling in the body, easily comparable to morphine,” (“Why is tanning dangerous?”) But they’re also short term effects that come along with using tanning beds such as redness of the skin, dark spots, DNA damage, thickening of the epidermis (inflamed or swollen), sunburn or sun
A tanning bed may look very simple, but in reality it is very complicated, for instance, Gamma Rays have frequency’s greater than 3 x 1019, while UV rays have much lower frequency’s, so in a sunbed, if the frequency of UV light increases then it technically becomes Gamma Rays, depending on the amount of radiation that the person is exposed to, he/she might get radiation poisoning if exposed to small amounts of radiation, but if exposed to a large amount, according to a study in 2007 by the Health Physiology, some people have died, either immediately or over time (Kirstin Hendrickson, arch 12 2014). This is why many researchers have studied the tanning beds and have come to a conclusion that UV radiation suits the sunbed the finest. Tanning beds are slowly effecting our society, some of the celebrities use tanning beds before going to a vacation or to look
The third factor that plays a major role in causing skin cancer is the Ozone layer. It helps protect people from ultraviolet radiation. However, the ozone layer is shrinking and this is due to man-made products like sprays and combustion of cars that are emitted in the atmosphere. This process is allowing more ultraviolet penetration to the earth thus increasing risk of skin cancer (Bair, 1991, P. 367,368). Ultraviolet radiation are the chief causes for skin cancer because the UV radiation
Tanning has become increasingly popular over years. The question is it beneficial or a bad business deal to start. The truth is tanning is convenient method utilized by many individuals to gain skin tone and color, builds self- esteem and promote relaxation. It can be beneficial in many aspects of our lives as well as an alternative to more harmful exposure but there are always risks at everything you do. Dermatologists today are against it for the simple fact that they believe it causes skin cancer. According to NCI (National Cancer Institute) exposure to UV radiation—whether from the sun or from artificial sources such as sunlamps utilized in tanning beds—increases of developing skin cancer. IRAC (International Agency for Research on
They confuse people about the real risks of indoor tanning. Many people with Vitamin D deficiency heard that brief exposure to UV light was good for them. The tanning industry ran with that. They used this as an advertising claim and lured many people inside. Such carefully crafted claims are what convince people that tanning beds are safe.
C. Melanoma Skin Cancer is the most dangerous form of skin cancer, it kills one person per hour, these cancerous growths are most often caused by ultraviolet radiation from sunshine or tanning beds. These tumors originate in the pigment-producing melanocytes in the basal layer of the epidermis. Melanoma is caused mainly by intense, occasional UV exposure (frequently leading to sunburn), especially in those who are genetically predisposed to the disease. Often the first sign of melanoma is a change in the size, shape, color or feel of a mole.