Indoor tanning beds allow people to get a tan whenever it's convenient, or at times of year they couldn't normally do so. People in colder climates can stay tan year-round, or can obtain a tan before going on vacation to a warm, sunny place in the winter. Although tanning beds are popular, indoor tanning sources emit ultraviolet rays, and thus have the same negative effects as repeated prolonged exposure to sunlight does.
Tanning
A tan is a sign of skin damage; it's the skin's reaction to ultraviolet rays, as explained by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The skin produces extra melanin to protect itself from these rays, and melanin creates a darker skin color.
Sunburn
Indoor tanning beds can cause sunburn just as the sun can, especially older tanning beds that emit similar amounts of shorter-wave ultraviolet rays (UVB)--more associated with sunburn--along with longer-wave UVA. This effect is more common in fair-skinned individuals. Sunburn causes faster skin aging and may raise the risk of skin cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
Premature Aging
Long-term exposure to ultraviolet light, including indoor tanning sources, can cause prematurely aged skin, as noted by the ACS. Ultraviolet light exposure from years before can lead to wrinkles, loss of elasticity, darker areas commonly called age spots, uneven color, and pre-cancerous developments such as scaly, rough patches called actinic keratoses.
Skin Cancer
Ultraviolet rays are considered the primary cause for skin cancer, the most common of all cancers, according to the ACS. This includes melanoma, the most deadly skin cancer. People with excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation from indoor tanning sources or to sunlight are at particularly high risk for skin cancer. In 2009, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, classified tanning devices that emit ultraviolet light into the highest cancer risk category, "carcinogenic to humans." The FDA cites reports that women who use tanning beds more than once per month are 55 percent more at risk of developing melanoma, and that melanoma is the second most prevalent cancer in women 20 to 29 years old.
