The Technology of Tanning Beds

Tanning beds rely on the effects of ultraviolet radiation on the human skin. The ultraviolet radiation is part of the total electromagnetic energy released by the sun.

Scientists have analyzed the ultraviolet radiation and came up with three types, the type A (UV-A), type B (UV-B), and the type C (UV-C). Of the three, type C is the most dangerous type and, luckily for humans and all other creatures, the upper layers of planet Earth deflect this type and it never touches the lands and waters.

Type B, as scientists would describe, has a shorter wavelength and higher energy than type A. The latter type (UV-A) has lower energy and longer wavelength. For the laymen, this means that type A can penetrate beyond the skin, deeper into the body. This is why type A is associated with cancer.

Type B, on the other hand, stays in the skin and has no ability to go deeper. But this type can still wreak havoc on the skin when the skin is overexposed to it. Type B is associated with sunburn, and when you get sunburn too often, you will eventually suffer skin cancer. Scientists caution people to be extra careful when they tan, both outdoors and indoors.

When ultraviolet radiation gets into the skin, it stimulates the dermis (the inner layer of the skin) to produce melanin and to bring this substance to the upper layer. This substance is a pigment that darkens the skin. People with darker skin have more melanin than people with lighter skin. People suffering albinism have no melanin at all.

Specially designed lamps can produce the same kind of ultraviolet radiation. Radiation, after all, is still energy and energy is abundant on our planet. Some versions of UV lamps are used in forensic science to detect dried blood in crime scenes. And some are used in our tanning beds.

Early tanning beds have lamps that produce both UV-A and UV-B. But when UV-A was discovered to be the culprit of some forms of cancer, the more recent tanning bed models have less lamps emitting UV-A and more lamps producing UV-B.

Tanning beds need not look like beds. There are actually two general designs: the first looks like a capsule and the second is a booth. When you use the capsule, you actually lie down on Plexiglas and ultraviolet radiation is bombarded on you body on all sides.

The same bombardment happens in the tanning booth, but you will stand up throughout the process. The temperature inside (in both tanning capsules and tanning booths) reaches about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, so expect to sweat a lot.

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The Technology of Tanning Beds