Can tanning beds cause skin cancer?
Artificial sources of ultraviolet light, such as tanning parlors, tanning booths, and sunlamps, can be as dangerous, and sometimes even more dangerous, than the suns rays. There are two major types of ultraviolet radiation in tanning beds, UV-A and UV-B rays. UV-B rays are a shorter wavelength and tend to cause sunburn. They also damage the DNA in the skin surface cells and can cause skin cancer. UV-A rays are a longer wavelength and enter more deeply into the dermis, the layer under the skin surface, and damage collagen and elastin, which contribute to a loss of elasticity of the skin. These cause dry, leathery, wrinkly skin.
