There is no such thing as a safe tan even from a tanning booth. It is true that tanning booths emit only UVA rays, while the sun radiates both UVA and the more harmful UVB rays. However, it is not true - as researchers once thought - that UVA rays are harmless. A 1995 report in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that UVA rays penetrate the dermis, destroying supportive skin fibers and contributing to wrinkles, sagging skin, and premature aging, as well as to skin cancer. What’s worse, tanning booths emit two to three times the dose of UVA rays found in outdoor sunlight.
More warnings come from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which reported in an unpublished risk analysis that who use sunlamps 100 times a year receive 24 times the cancer-rays they would ordinarily receive from the sun. The FDA expressed particular concern about home users since they may use lamps every day. Today, the FDA requires tanning beds to carry a warning that exposure to UV rays may cause skin cancer, premature skin aging, burns, and long-term damage to the eyes.