Are tanning beds safer than the sun?
No. Tanning beds not only inflict the same type of skin and eye damage as the sun, but also may be as much as 20 times stronger than natural sunlight. Tanning beds typically use UVA rays. Although UVA rays are milder than UVB rays—the main cause of sunburn and sun cancer, UVA wavelengths are longer and they penetrate deeper through the skin’s layers. UVA rays contribute to wrinkling the skin, as well as to the development of skin cancer. Some diseases, such as discoid or systemic lupus, and some oral medications, such as those containing sulfur, are aggravated by light exposure, especially in the UVA range.
