Tanning Bed Risks: Understanding UV Exposure and Skin Health

Natural sunlight contains two types of ultraviolet light: UVA and UVB. Tanning beds contain both as well, but the UVA radiation in a tanning bed emits 93 percent to 99 percent more of it than natural sunlight. This increases the benefits of a tan but submits the human body to more damaging long-term effects.

Skin Cancer

• Each person using a tanning bed gets different results. Some tan quickly, but some can't tan at all due to their skin tone, thus resulting in a sunburn. Physicians of the Geisinger Health System report that one sunburn doubles the risk of developing skin cancer.

Transmitted Diseases

• If a tanning bed is not cleaned properly by the staff, diseases or illnesses can be transmitted from one user to another.

Eye Damage

• If proper eye goggles aren't worn while tanning, it can affect the surface tissues of the eye and its internal structures. The short-term effect on the eye may cause the front surface to burn. Some potential long-term results are cataracts or a pterygium (a non-cancerous growth of the clear, thin tissue over the white part of the eye).

Premature Aging

• A high amount of time spent in a tanning bed causes the skin to dry out, and lose moisture and elasticity. If skin doesn't have a certain amount of moisture, it begins to wrinkle, resulting in the skin aging long before it's supposed to.

Pre Cancer

• The most common form of pre-cancer is solar keratoses. Having this disease causes scaly, raised bumps to appear on your skin. If treated, they should go away in a short amount of time, but if left untreated, they can turn into skin cancer.