Many people have opinions about whether or not a tanning bed is bad for you. A lot of people argue that natural sunlight is just as bad for your skin. But in reality, tanning beds put you at a much higher risk for all different types of skin cancer.
According to this article, UVA rays are responsible for tanning while UVB rays are responsible for damaging skin cells, aka sunburn. 95% of sun rays are UVA and only 5% are UVB, but it has been proven that UVA still increases the risk for skin cancer and causes the skin to age (Robb-Nicholson). In a tanning bed, most of the rays are UVA rays coming from a fluorescent bulb, and a few rays are UVB. Although, the UVA rays in a tanning bed are up to three times stronger than they are in natural sun.
Tanning beds are still a pretty recent “fad,” but many studies have been done to prove they are dangerous. If you use a tanning bed you are 50% more likely to get basal cell carcinoma and 100% more likely to get squamous cell carcinoma (Robb-Nicholson). The International Agency for Research on Cancer did a study that proved people who started using tanning beds before 35 years of age increased their risk for melanoma by 75%. The way tanning beds damage the skin is by the UVA and UVB rays damaging the DNA is their cells which can cause mutation which can lead to cancer (Robb-Nicholson).
Tanning bed popularity is on the rise even though people know the damages it can cause. “Nearly 30 million people in the United States tan in salons every year, most of them women between the ages of 16 and 49″ (Robb-Nicholson). Salons make false claims like it can help create a base tan or it creates vitamin D in your body. The base coat is equivalent to SPF 4 and you can take a vitamin D supplement that does not damage your skin. Cancer is a scary thing in our world today, so people should not consciously be doing things that increase their risks of falling victim to it. There are much more important things in life than being tan.
Sources:
Robb-Nicholson, Celeste. “New Releases.” Is a Tanning Bed Safer than Sunlight? N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.
“Tanning Beds Can Be Dangerous.” Ritas Place in Guffey. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.
I completely agree that there are more important things in life then to be tan. I have seen friends become addicted to tanning beds and I have seen drastic negative changes in their skin appear in just a year. It is unhealthy and unnecessary. Every time someone goes under the bed, he or she is permanently aging his or her skin and increasing his or her risk of cancer . Here is a reliable source that restates what you said: http://www.doctoroz.com/blog/susan-evans-md/dangers-tanning-beds
I completely agree with your argument! I also researched this topic and CNN supports our argument that tanning beds are deadly.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/09/20/spray.tan.tanning.bed/
Thanks for sharing!
Very true. Tanning beds can also be the cause of severe eye damage. Like you said, tanning beds are capable of producing UV rays up to 100 times stronger than you would get from the sun. The human eye is very delicate, which is why bed tanning can cause serious damage to the eyeball and eyelid. Overall, bed tanning isn’t a very smart healthy idea.
For as long as I can remember my parents have always warned me about the dangers of unnatural tanning. Some doctors even go further to say that tanning is equivalent to smoking after reviewing the dangers tanning poses to your health. Very interesting blog!