Tanning Beds & Skin Cancer
Some have turned to tanning beds, believing them to be the safe alternative to things that they may have used in the past. Of course, as it has turned out, they are by no means safe, and many are having struggles with at the very least, looking orange rather than brown as they would like. Tanning beds have a more concentrated form of certain UV rays, and studies are saying that they can cause cancer. It’s not a far leap from what we’ve discovered in the past few years. But they continue to put out more research to demonstrate this particular effect. They were after all previously classified as “probable carcinogens.”
It has been assumed in the past that tanning beds could lead to cancer. But now it has been proven. Using 20 different studies, they compiled a new analysis and total conclusion. The risk of skin cancer is estimated to increase by 75% when using tanning beds before the age of 30! They have also shown mutations in mice when exposed to these kinds of rays and in a way chemical radiation.
They found that tanning beds only have one type of radiation. Only one type of ultraviolet radiation is said to be potentially lethal. And when you use tanning beds, you are exposed to rather high doses of this. It has even been compared to tobacco, hepatitis B, and chimney sweeping in an official list of cancer causing functions.
The reality is that we have known that tanning beds are harmful for quite a while, especially knowing what kind of UV rays they happen to use. But we have denied it, and some just don’t seem to care. But when it comes right down to it, you will find that many have ignored it, even though the UV rays known to cause skin cancer have always been abundantly used in tanning beds. Now it’s simply easier to know and confirm that you should not use tanning beds, unless you want to take the risk of developing problems such as skin cancer.