UV exposure is an interesting issue. People like the look of a tan and the glow that comes with it. Unfortunately tanning is frought with risk. The tanning industry would like us to believe that tanning can be done completely safely in the comfort of a tanning bed that you pay $10 or whatever per session for. The realities are that three sessions per week is as much as hazard as laying the real sun for the same period of time. UV accelerates skin aging and damages the DNA of skin cells in a way that can lead to cancer. UV is also essential for the synthesis of Vitamin D in the body, but it’s argued than any level of UV exposure is too much. What’s a rational person looking to age against the machine to do?

The current issue of Pigment Cell and Melanoma takes a look at tanning as it relates to skin cancer. This paper digs into the social aspects of tanning beds and the industry that drives it. The paper even contends that the tanning industry ginned up the controversies about Vitamin D and makes the point that oral supplementation is just as effective as successful. This article discusses in detail the hows of cell mutation caused by ultraviolet light. Finally, a third article analyzes existing data connecting tanning beds directly to melanoma formation.

I’m still very torn on the Vitamin-D issue. I have difficulty believing that oral supplements can ever be as effective as the more natural sun exposure route at treating deficiency, but there are very real risks to sun exposure.

Sunscreen up those faces, though. A little exposure to nature sunlight is unlikely to be a total aging and cancer disaster. Baking in a tanning bed is a sure fire to be aged by the machine rather than aging against it.