Lately I’ve been noticing advertisements for tanning salons claiming that they are a good source of Vitamin D, in other words good for you. I felt this was a bit of a misrepresentation so I decided to do a little research of my own.
As it turns out yes indeed you can receive Vitamin D from tanning beds. However, the risks of skin cancer far out weigh any health benefits you may receive.
In 2009, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), concluded that tanning devices that emit UV radiation are more dangerous than previously thought. IARC moved these devices into the highest cancer risk category.
IARC’s conclusions and recommendations were based on it’s 2006 review of 19 studies conducted over 25 years on the use of indoor tanning equipment.
(http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm186687.htm)
The tanning industry would like you to believe that the only way to receive Vitamin D is from UVA and UVB light. When in fact you can get all the Vitamin D you need from dairy, cereal and fish.
I would also like you to know that when I began looking into this the first thing I did was go to Google and search for information concerning Vitamin D and tanning beds. It took me 4 pages of information before I could find research that was not provided by the tanning industry. Apparently this industry has saturated the internet with enough information so that it becomes very difficult to find statistics that are presented by anyone but themselves.
For more Health & Fitness information please visit our ongoing blog at
Evan
Yup – tanning beds BAD. This blog looks just like the one sent out on February 6th . . . .or is this deja vu? Oh – and even worse than skin cancer – tanning beds promote wrinkles!!!
Evan Duffy
Yep must be deja vu!!
John
Who is going to balance out the “false” with facts if not the tanning industry? Seems to me the sunscreen industry does a good job scaring us all out of UV rays in an effort to make a few more billion per year, yet no one finds that suspicious?
Please…..
longevitypt
Right John. That’s exactly what I thought when it took me quite some time to find any “real” research on the subject
Allena
As an owner of a tanning salon, we promote responsible use of our equipment. No use of our beds beyond the recommended use of the posted exposure schedule.
Tanning, personal training,etc. are things done that individuals participate of their own free will that make one feel better about themselves.
As with anything in life, including personal training, everything in moderation!