SKIN CARE: DANGERS ASSOCIATED WITH SOLARIUMS

May 8th, 2009 by admin

1. Damage to the dermis (a) Because the UVA wavelengths are longer than the UVB wavelengths, they penetrate deeper and can cause damage to the supportive layers of the skin which house the collagen and elastic fibres. Celtic skin is unable to adequately repair this damage, due it is thought to certain blood vessel changes, as well as cellular mutations. As a result, abnormal cells are formed which may lead to skin cancer. The elastic tissue also becomes abnormal and loses its elasticity, and the collagen tissue disintegrates and disappears. Consequently the skin becomes thin, ‘liver spots’ appear, dryness occurs, and wrinkles develop—all features of premature ageing— and in time skin cancer will occur.

(bj Although UVB radiation predominantly causes epidermal rather than dermal damage, resulting in burning and later tanning, it also has long-term cumulative detrimental effects on the skin. UVA radiation has been shown to aggravate the effect of UVB radiation. Consequently, sun exposure shortly before or after exposure to a solarium will result in more severe skin damage.

(c) Recent evidence indicates that exposure to less intense UVA and UVB radiation over a longer period of time is more likely to cause permanent skin damage, including cancer, than the same energy applied over a short period. This accounts for the particularly damaging effects of chronic exposure on the face and hands. With solariums, the total body area irradiated is much larger, and therefore the potential for damage and cancer is much greater.

(d) Sunburn is nature’s warning of excessive sun exposure. This warning is absent when solariums are used as a tanning source. People who frequent solariums are either sold a certain number of possible exposures, or unlimited access for a period of months. The incentive to attend frequently to keep up the short-lived tan, together with the absence of the discomfort caused by burning, results in damage far in excess of what would occur in the sun.

2. Photosensitivity Because solarium operators have a strong financial incentive to process as many people as possible, have no medical training, and are not governed by any health regulations, a number of medical problems may arise.

It is not widely recognized that various internal and external preparations may make a person’s skin allergic to ultraviolet light and UVA radiation in particular. External agents include various soaps, perfumes, cosmetics, creams, and plants. Internal agents include many antibiotics, some diuretics, birth control pills, tranquillizers, and oral anti-diabetic drugs.

Also, there are also a number of diseases which are aggravated by UVA radiation; some of these may be latent, and only brought on by exposure to radiation from a solarium.

3. Bye damage Perhaps the greatest hazard concerns the eyes, which in most cases are given no protection during therapy. In fact, the implication that solariums are so safe that not even eyes need to be protected is emphasized in advertising. There is, however, conclusive evidence both from animal studies and experiments performed on animal and human eyes, that UVA exposure results in permanent damage to the lens, and sometimes mho to the retina. Initially, the lens of the eye becomes discoloured, and then opaque, and finally a cataract forms. This may eventually lead to blindness. Cataracts are the second most common cause of blindness in Australia and the United States. This high and increasing incidence of cataracts is thought to be largely due to the increasing exposure of the population to sunlight.

4. Advertising hazards Various advertising brochures present different inaccuracies. There are, however, three fundamental inaccuracies which most of them contain.

The first is the claim made for the enormous benefits of UVA radiation for the body! They reject the ‘blazing and potentially dangerous sun’, only to promote ‘the rich golden tan, which gives you that healthy, confident, affluent look*. Who could resist, especially as they say that the radiation which produces a tan is also the major source of vitamin D. In fact the major source of vitamin D is dairy products and fish oils, not sunlight. Moreover such supplementation of vitamin D is hardly necessary in our society: vitamin D deficiency results in rickets, a virtually non-existent condition in developed countries.