Increase Your TANNING Knowledge

by Patricia E. Reykdal and Donald L. Smith

Many of you reading SunWellness already are familiar with the wonderful benefits of sensible, moderate and responsible exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Your beautiful tan not only makes you look great, but it helps you feel great!

You've spread the Good Word about indoor tanning to friends and family--some of whom may not have tanned indoors. Now that winter is here, encourage them to try indoor tanning. You--and anyone new to the practice of indoor tanning--should ask the tanning salon operator the following important questions. We've provided the scientifically based answers they should be able to give you.

Questions To Ask Your Salon Operator

Q: Why isn't my tan getting any darker?

A: Each of us has a genetic pattern that dictates our natural skin color and how dark our tan can get. The technical reason is the ratio of eumelanin (predominant in brown- and black-skinned individuals) to pheomelanin (predominant in fair-skinned individuals).

Using a tanning lotion immediately before tanning--and a moisturizer or conditioner afterward--will help you reach your maximum tanning potential. Also, moving from "entry level" to "upgrade" tanning units also will help you get your tan as dark as genetically possible because of the increased number of tanning photons of light.

Q: How do you know when the tanning bed lamps have reached the end of their useful life?

A: Most indoor tanning salons utilize a hand-held radiometer to determine when to change their lamps. In practice, they read the output under standardized testing conditions when they first are installed and at periodic intervals thereafter. Most tanning salons order new lamps when they have lost 25 percent of their original output and change them when they have lost 30 percent to 35 percent of their original output.

Q: What do I tell my friends who want to tan but are afraid to?

A: They should be comforted by the fact that the indoor tanning industry is the only group that recommends avoiding both the risks of overexposure to UVR and the risks of underexposure to UVR. Tell them the scientific facts clearly show that the incontrovertible benefits of sensible, moderate and responsible exposure to UVR outweigh the minimal and manageable risks involved.

Q: When do you change your tanning lamps?

A: Lamps are changed at the end point of their useful life. Most lamp companies recommend their lamps be changed when their output has been reduced by 30 percent to 35 percent from the output recorded when they are first installed.

Experiments have shown that clients did not begin complaining until the lamps had lost 45 percent to 50 percent of their original output; therefore, the recommended changing point assures client satisfaction.

Q: How do you determine how long I can tan in a specific tanning bed?

A: An expensive instrument called a spectroradiometer is used by tanning equipment manufacturers to read the output of the sunlamps in a tanning bed on a wavelength- by-wavelength basis. This "unweighted" output data then is "weighted" by an Erythemal Action Spectrum devised by the Food and Drug Administration.

From this "weighted" data, the time it takes to reach the maximum allowable dose (MAD) of 4 MED is calculated and this "time to 4 MED" determines the maximum timer interval (MTI) of the tanning unit.

There is a lot of science behind the recommended exposure schedules your tanning salon owners utilize to protect you.