How the Use of Tanning Bulbs Is Regulated
Tanning bulbs are the most important parts of a suntan bed. These lamps provide the necessary level of UV rays to induce the user’s skin to create additional melanin or pigment to protect itself from burning. The additional pigment results to a darker skin color called a tan. But the safety of using such lamps has oftentimes been the subject of debate between health organizations and the suntan bed industry particularly in the United States.
Tanning bulbs vary in the type of UV rays that they provide. Some lamps produce long-wave or UVA rays instead of short-wave rays or UVB. According to some experts, UVA rays don’t burn the skin as UVB rays do but they do get deeper into a person’s skin and can cause heavier and more permanent damage. There are actually brands of tanning lamps emitting UVB rays that were found to be as much UVB as the noontime sun during summers in New York.
The output of tanning beds, particularly the lamps, is governed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which means that a person wanting to get a tan can only be provided with a limited amount of UV exposure per session as specified by the FDA. This regulation has been enacted to stop indoor tanners from getting too much UV rays and getting burned.
The regulation of the use of indoor tanning beds in the United States has reached its peak when the American Medical Association called for a ban on the sale and use of indoor tanning devices for non-medical purposes like cosmetics. The request of the AMA originated from studies which speculated that damage to the DNA must have occurred to create a tan. But the ban called for by the association was declined by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the body that regulates the sale and marketing, but not the use, of indoor tanning devices. The FTC actually did the opposite, prohibiting the tanning bed industry from marketing its products for any purpose other than cosmetic. The commission’s argument was that; in this way, consumers cannot make health claims since the beds were never marketed as health-related devices.
Tanning bulbs provide people who wish to get a tan with UV rays that can help them achieve the skin coloring that they desire. Whether these lamps, or tanning beds in general, are unsafe is still up for debate and it might take a few more years before we hear the end of this.
