About Home Tanning Beds

Exposure Patterns in Residential Indoor Tanning Beds

The indoor tanning industry has acknowledged that ultraviolet radiation may cause skin cancer if the person obtains a burn from the tanning devices. But the indoor tanning spokespeople state that the sun exposure that causes skin cancer, such as melanoma and basal cell carcinoma is inconsistent with indoor tanning. The indoor tanning industry also believes that there is a major difference between acquiring a gradual tan from indoor tanning devices, thus being exposed to UV light in small doses and receiving UV light in larger doses, thereby causing burns.

There is not much information about the patterns of exposure for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). One reason for this is that in order to complete a reliable study, a person may have to remember his sun exposure tendencies back 40 or more years. Therefore, the studies are somewhat limited, however, a linear relationship can be drawn between the cumulative sun exposure and the increase in squamous cell carcinoma. It is probably safe to say that the more sun a person has been exposed to the greater his or her chances of SCC, even with a regular tanner who has received continuous sun exposure on a somewhat low dosage basis.

The more critical form of cancer, Melanoma, follows a somewhat different pattern of sun exposure. Studies have shown that if a person sustains intense sun exposure that results in sunburns, especially in childhood, they have a greater risk of developing Melanoma. This cancer could occur even when a person is exposed intermittently to the sun.

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) follows a pattern similar to melanoma in that a person has a greater risk of development this cancer with intense intermittent exposure to the sun resulting in sunburns, once again, especially in childhood.

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