Risky Business
Tanning Beds

Don’t Fake Bake, There’s Too Much @ Stake!

Five things to think about before YOU use a tanning bed:

• 5. It’s boring. Don’t you have better things to waste your time on?
• 4. Do you really want to lay in something called a “coffin bed”?
• 3. Do you really know who used the bed before you?
• 2. The wrinkled raisin look is totally out this season.
• 1.You increase your risk of getting skin cancer.

Brown Now…Blue Later

As people start to understand that spending lots of time in the sun could be dangerous, a “solution” to the sun’s harmful rays has been developed (yeah, right). The indoor tanning bed seems to be the answer to every sun lover’ s prayers. Most people think that tanning beds can tan their skin safely without any of the hazardous side effects. Too bad that is completely FALSE! There is no such thing as a healthy tan.

Tanning beds give off at least twice as much ultraviolet (UV) radiation as the sun does. The rays from a tanning bed are long-wave (UVA) rays instead of short-wave (UVB) rays that you get from the sun. UVA rays don’t burn your skin like UVB rays do, but they do bore deeper into your skin and cause more permanent damage.

Many tanning lamps also emit UVB radiation. One brand of lamp was found to emit as much UVB as the noontime sunlight in the summer in New York.

The combination of UVA and UVB radiation can result in burning the eyes cornea. Longtime exposure can result in irreversible damage and cataracts.

Tanning beds are considered a fad among teenage girls today. Many girls spend time in a tanning booth before the summer months. They are risking future cases of skin cancer for beauty now.

For more information check out these GREAT sites:

• Tanning Bed Lies and Laws
• Harmful Rays of Light (CNN)

Q&A Videos

• Are tanning accelorators safe?
• Are sunless tanning lotions good alternatives?
• Are safe tanning beds really safe?
• Do tanning bed lotions with sunblock make tanning beds safer?

 

[ Next: Outdoor Stuff

 

Hey, it’s Cool in the Shade.
Protect your skin. Protect yourself.

 

This page was created by Lindsey, Tanner, and Melissa.

Some pages on this website are created and maintained by kids—members of Texas 4-H.

All content is reviewed by Carol Rice, R.N., Ph.D., Professor and Extension Health Specialist, Regents Fellow.

This site has been provided to you by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas 4-H, and the Texas Cancer Council.

Last updated: 10 January, 2008

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Educational programs of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, or national origin.