Tanning Beds, Are They Safe?

The United States Department of Health & Human Services has declared ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and artificial sources, such as tanning beds and sun lamps, as a known carcinogen or cancer-causing substance.

Indoor tanning lamps emit UVA and UVB radiation at levels that are far higher than the sun. New high pressure sunlamps emit doses that can be as much as 15 times that of the sun. Therefore, studies show that this exposure to UV rays increases your risk factor for melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma by 75%, especially when indoor tanning begins before the ages of 35.