Tanning Lamp
Tanning lamps are the part of a tanning bed, booth or other tanning device that actually generate the ultraviolet. While there are literally hundreds of different tanning lamps, they can generally be classified in two basic groups: low pressure and high pressure. Within the industry, it is regular to call high-pressure units bulbs and low-pressure units lamps, although there are several exceptions and not everyone follows this example. It is likely due to the size of the unit, rather than the type. Both types require an oxygen free environment within the lamp.
Virtually each tanning lamp or bulb requires a ballast to provide power. While an incandescent lamp, like a typical household light bulb uses a resistor filament to restrict the flow of power inside the lamp, tanning lamps don’t. They are plasma devices, like a neon sign, and will flow as much power as you make available to them, even to the point of self-devastation. Thus ballast is needed to regulate the amount of electricity that flows to them.
The main purpose of the tanning lamp is to create a suntan by other means than exposure to the sun. It is accomplished in a tanning bed, tanning booth, tanning canopy or free standing single bulb tanning unit. The quality of the tan (or how similar it is to a tan from the natural sun) depends upon the spectrum of the light, which is generated from the lamps. Many tanning lamps produce much more UV than the sun on a typical day. It gives the user a faster base tan, but one that fades faster and offers less protection from the sun than a natural tan. People who use tanning lamps are at risk of suntan. This inflamed redness of the skin is caused by too much exposure to UV radiation, particularly to UVB radiation. Sunburn may show up right away in severe cases, or may expand up to 24 hours later.
If you don’t protect your eyes while tanning, overexposure to UV radiation can also cause temporary but painful eye conditions known as photokeratitis and photoconjunctivitis. In particular, overexposure to UVB radiation may be linked to the development of cataracts, a clouding over of the lens of the eye that can cause blindness.
Tanning lamps can also cause longer-term health effects and exposure to UV radiation can cause your skin to age more quickly and can enhance your risk of developing squamous and basal cell skin cancer. Your risk of mounting skin cancer increases with accumulated exposure to UV radiation. This could affect your body’s ability to protect against serious illnesses, including the more serious form of skin cancer, malignant melanoma.