Can I use a tanning bed safetly while Im pregnant or will it harm my unborn baby?
The radiation that you receive in a tanning salon is ultraviolet radiation (UVA), not ionizing radiation like x-rays. Robert L. Brent, MD, PhD, Ken Barat (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory), and Gary Zeman, Sc.D., CHP are all in agreement that although UVA radiation is dangerous to you, UVA does not penetrate far enough into the body to affect any tissues beyond the skin, and therefore, should not harm the baby. You do need to be concerned of indirect side effects of suntanning, such as exposure to heat and possible dehydration, however; according to LookingFit.com, that is also a minor concern, and here’s why: “Most of these [hyperthermia] problems are rare, have not been linked to indoor tanning and only have been associated with prolonged exposure to temperatures of 102 degrees Fahrenheit or more for several hours in the early stages of pregnancy. Fortunately, regulatory standards typically limit the maximum temperature for commercial tanning devices to 100 F. As a rule, in the later sta
