UVA Bulbs for Low-Pressure Tanning
There have been so many scare stories about tanning beds and lamps causing skin diseases - not the least of which is melanoma, the strongest form of skin cancer. How do you get a good tan while minimizing health risks? If you're new to the subtle art of self-tanning, you should know that UVA bulbs would be one of the safest ways to get the kind of tan you need.
UVA bulbs are essential to "low-pressure tanning." If you're new to tanning, you may not know the difference between the different kinds of tanning procedures. In brief, high-pressure tanning involves the use of tanning implements - beds and lamps, to be more specific - that use bulbs that produce more UVB light than UVA.
UV stands for "ultraviolet." There are three kinds of UV light, depending on strength: UVA, UVB and UVC. UVA is considered the weakest. Some bulbs claim they produce only 100% UVA light, which is considered safest for tanning. UVC light is considered too strong for the human skin, and therefore tanning bulbs that produce dangerous amounts of UVC light is illegal for use in tanning salons. It would be unwise to purchase a bulb that produces too much UVC for your home salon, as well!
Getting a darker tan using pure UVA may take a little long, however. This is why many standard tanning bed bulbs emit both UVA and UVB light, only in different ratios. The ratio between UVA and UVB is measured by percentages, which is how the differences in strength between tanning bulbs in the United States are measured. It could be a bit tricky figuring out how strong a bulb is just by looking at percentages - a 5% bulb may be stronger than a 6.5% bulb, across the spectrum. It's always best to consult the manufacturer of your tanning bed before deviating from the types of bulbs recommended for your bed's specific model.
Before buying any sort of bulb, it's best to consult your tanning bed or lamp owner's manual. Tanning bed ballasts, and its other electrical systems, are sensitive to wattage. Not all ballasts can take UVA bulbs, so it's best to find out first if your tanning bed or lamp accommodates the bulb you want.
