The Dangers of Spray Tanning

Are you a fan of spray tanning? Think again. Even the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given dihydroxyacetone (DHA) – a color additive often used in sunless tanning products – the thumbs down, saying that it is “harmful to humans when applied improperly.” (Link)

In the 1970s, the U.S. government approved DHA for bronzers intended to be rubbed on your skin. Its use in spray tan booths, though, has not been specifically approved. When inhaled or sprayed onto the porous mucous membranes of your body, DHA can enter your bloodstream, leading federal regulators to call spray tanning “unsafe,” especially if you undergo the procedure without eye, nose, and mouth protection.

Coughing, difficulty breathing, fainting, and dizziness are among the known effects of DHA.

What’s in a Spray Tanning Booth?

Dr. Joseph Mercola recalls that as the “misguided propaganda” against sun exposure began in the 1980s, alternatives to getting a glowing tan stated becoming popular as well. “First came the self-tanners that left you looking like a streaky carrot, followed by any number of lotions, powders, and eventually, spray tanning booths,” he says.

Among the greatest hazards of spray tans is the illusion that they provide significant UVB exposure to improve your vitamin D levels. The truth: spray tans don’t increase your vitamin D levels at all, says Dr. Mercola.

DHA, which is not to be confused with the healthy omega-3 fat, is responsible for skin darkening by reacting with amino acids in the surface layer of your skin. Anywhere between one to 15 percent DHA is found in modern sunless tanning products.

While claimed by the industry as a simple carbohydrate sugar solution, DHA is actually not as harmless as it seems. “It is not an ingestible sugar, and no one should be eating it,” Dr. Thomas Pierce, a toxicologist who investigated the harmful effects of tanning beds, says in an interview.

“Part of the problem is that the U.S. government’s regulations for DHA allow several contaminants, and many spray tan solutions contain lead, arsenic, and mercury,” asserts Dr. Mercola.

Safe Tanning Bed and Other Alternatives

Dr. Mercola advises the public to avoid spray tanning completely, especially during pregnancy. Lead is particularly known to affect brain development, and it’s uncertain how it may affect your future baby should you spray-tan while pregnant.

Remember, too, that tanning the surface of your skin through chemicals does NOT mean that your body is creating vitamin D. The biochemical process of vitamin D production occurs when your skin is exposed to UVB radiation – either from natural sunlight or from a safe tanning bed.

“While safely exposing yourself to the sun or a safe tanning bed is healthy, saturating your body with potentially toxic chemicals to give it some color is not,” reminds Dr. Mercola.

Keep reading this blog for more safe tanning news and updates from Dr. Mercola.

Tweet

Email

Share

Tags: DHA, dr. joseph mercola, dr. mercola, safe tanning bed, spray tanning, spray tans, Tanning Beds, Vitamin D