solariums (tanning beds)

A tanning bed or solarium is a custom-built bed (often called a “sun bed”) which uses a bank of special flurorescent lamps to generate UV (ultraviolet) radiation used to produce a cosmetic tan. Most commonly found in tanning salons, solariums use a range of lamps that produce a type of light as close as possible to the light emitted by the natural sun.

A typical solarium tanning bed (also known as a sun bed)

How do solariums/tanning beds work?

The special UV lamps are built into the tanning bed behind a glass-like surface called plexiglas. The lights are situated both above and below the person due to the “oyster-shell” type design of the bed (see photo on right). The lights shine ultraviolet rays onto the user’s skin, emulating the effect of the sun: causing the user’s skin to release melanin and create the tan – the darker, brown tinted shade of colour on one’s skin.

Benefits of tanning beds/solariums

Benefits: choice/control

First up, a solarium is available all the time and not only when it’s a sunny day, suitable for responsible sun-tanning. So it is clear to see that one has a greater degree of choice when it comes to tanning indoors with a solarium.

Now onto control: a solarium or tanning bed approach to tanning allows a degree of control over how much UV exposure one gets.  Whilst it can be argued this benefit is controversial, one can clearly appreciate that  a tanning bed provides an environment which allows one to have complete control over the degree, duration and frequency of UV exposure. In contrast to this, when dealing with outdoor natural sun, the degree of UV can change drastically and one can easily end up with more exposure than intended. Of course this does not necessarily mean that using a tanning bed or solarium will be safer, but it does reduce the occurence of sunburn as it allows total control over the amount of UV exposure received.

A person lying inside a solarium or tanning bed

Benefits: convenience

Session times in a solarium or tanning bed are from just a few minutes up to a maximum of around 20 minutes. Generally speaking, a person can visit a tanning salon once or twice a week and be able to maintain their tan. For those people living in cities and working long hours indoors it can be seen that a tanning bed could be the only effective means of tanning or UV exposure at all.

Also, related to this, is the increased production of vitamin D caused by the body’s exposure to UV. Of course this also occurs outdoors via the sun’s UV rays but as mentioned above, many people may not have the opportunity to get out in the sun due to their lifestyle and work commitments. Vitamin D is well known for its benefits and it is interesting to note that most modern solariums/tanning beds have a lamp spectrum of UVB/UVA rays very similar to the sun and hence produce similar amounts of vitamin D.

Risks with solarium tanning

It has been proven that UV radiation can raise the risks of skin cancer. What is not clear is whether the UV radiation emitted from solariums/tanning beds is any more dangerous than that caused by the sun.  Whilst there are cases of skin cancer apparently linked to solarium tanning, there are also thousands of skin cancer cases every year of which have no connection to solarium or sunbed tanning.

What is known and is clear is that over-exposure to UV is what causes skin cancer and other adverse health effects. And therefore both frequent exposure to the harsh outdoor sun without protection as well as frequent exposure in a solarium will increase the risk of skin cancer.

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