The tanning bed definitely has a lot of fans, most of who want to get the deep down tan that the sun provides without having to get it outdoors. The use of tanning beds should not be taken lightly however, and for all its benefits, it comes with a few disadvantages as well. Let’s take on the benefits first.
A lot of the appeal lies in its sheer convenience. Since the UV source is a lot closer to your skin, you can get a tan much faster by using a tanning device than you would under the sun.
Many people also feel that a using a bed makes them feel better for some reason. While this was thought to be the result of endorphins released into the system, research has shown that there is no difference in the endorphin levels of people that have used a bed compared to those who didn’t. It appears then that the mood enhancing benefit of the tanning is largely psychological.
Of course a bed will give a person greater control with regard to how much he or she will tan, but this is a somewhat dubious benefit, since it can be abused. Nevertheless, the use of self tanning devices opens the user up to a lot less risk of getting sunburn, since the amount of exposure can be controlled more easily.
As for the drawbacks of using a bed, careful consideration may bear out that they outweigh the benefits. For one thing, too much exposure to UV has been linked with the occurrence of skin cancer. In addition, this also makes the skin age faster and develop wrinkle much sooner than it would otherwise. In extreme cases, UV exposure could also result in DNA mutation, impairment of the immune system, and numerous other effects. Arc eye is another condition that has been linked to the use of a bed without protective eye covering. It is also interesting to note that exposure to UV from a self tanning device can result in pretty much the same side effect as overexposure to the sun.
The US Public Health Service has gone in record to say that the UV radiation from a bed is a potential carcinogen, and that people under 30 years of age who have been overexposed have an increased risk of developing skin cancer in their later years. Ironically, a study has shown that although many college age student are aware of the risks involved in using a tanning bed, few are deterred from using them anyway.
All of this is only made more alarming by the recent announcement in the media that the use of beds is considered by scientific and health experts to be just as much a cancer risk as arsenic and mustard gas. In Ireland, plans are in fact underway to ban the manufacture and sale of tanning beds, given their possible role in the development of skin cancer.
