Tanning
This site is intended to provide a source of general information on skin tanning, ultraviolet (UV) exposure, UV emitting products, and skin protection.
While this site provides general information on UV safety, it is not intended to provide medical advice. If you have questions about your health, the best source of information is your doctor.
The FDA wants consumers to know that UV radiation in tanning devices poses serious health risks. A 2009 report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization, concludes that tanning devices are more dangerous than previously thought. Exposure to UV radiation, whether from the sun or indoor tanning beds, can cause:
- Skin cancer
- Skin burns
- Premature skin aging
- Eye damage (both short- and long-term)
Given these risks, the FDA in 2014 required that labeling be included on sunlamp products stating that the products should not be used by anyone younger than 18, and will require specific warnings be included in certain promotional materials for sunlamp products and UV lamps. The new labeling requirements were part of the final order classifying sunlamp products into class II, subject to premarket review.
Because people under age 18 are particularly at risk, the FDA is now proposing to restrict the sunlamp products to people age 18 years old and older, and require that they sign a risk acknowledgement certification before use, and then every 6 months, that states that they have been informed of the risks to health that may result from use of sunlamp products.
Please report Tanning related problems to MedWatch.
More Information
- Sunscreen: How to Help Protect Your Skin from the Sun
- Federal Register: Sunlamp Products; Proposed Amendment to Performance Standard
- Federal Register: Restricted Sale, Distribution, and Use of Sunlamp Products
- General and Plastic Surgery Devices: Reclassification of Ultraviolet Lamps for Tanning
- Proposed Order: Reclassification of Ultraviolet Lamps for Tanning, Henceforth To Be Known as Sunlamp Products
- Sunlamps and Sunlamp Products (Tanning Beds/Booths)
- World Health Organization’s (WHO) Ultraviolet radiation (UV)