REsearch into the dangers of sunbeds.

Authors Avatar by tazz2410 (student)

6/20/2011

Name of student: Therese Anasthasia Seforah

Name of school: G.M.D Atchia State College

Name of supervisor (Teacher): H.Dulgeet

Subject: 21st Century Science 5131


Introduction

I will be conducting this case study in order to find out evidence about whether sunbeds cause only skin cancer or not. As the pressure of young people is to become perfectly preened and tanned steadily increases, more and more turn to sunbeds as a way to find that perfect summer glow. However, the darker the sides to this story is the soaring numbers of skin cancer, are they paying for their vanity, or is it a pure coincidence? – Because in my opinion, it is a currently pressing issue, so many people today are turning to sunbeds, and with the sunbeds they are becoming stronger and stronger, are we killing ourselves? I will find several pieces of information to support each theory and then show my conclusion. In the finding of these pieces of evidence I will be checking of how reliable it is and then I will come to my conclusion.

Background Science Information

In order for my arguments to be explained and to be understood, background information is important to be explained so as to help you to understand clearly the theory about my experiment on sunbeds. In other words, I will help you by providing diagrams, pictures and scientific reviews of course as evidence.

History of sunbeds

Sunbeds was created and it was initially brought to America by the German Friedrich Wolff in 1979. While he was studying the beneficial effects of ultraviolet light on athletes, the German Scientist has an interesting side effect – tanned skin. Realizing the application of a beautiful tan, Wolff founded the indoor tanning industry. His research led to the development of indoor tanning equipment and lamp technology. Called “the father of indoor tanning,” Wolff brought his European technology to the United States in 1978.

The aesthetic purpose of using sunbeds is to achieve a tan. A recent study showed that a significant tanning effect can be achieved after 6 exposures (over two weeks) and that the tan increases steadily with further exposures. He set the standard for the business with specialized

There are no sources in the current document.lamps and a reflector system that was ideally suited to indoor tanning. Today, the company operates North America and Western Europe, and has patient licensees in Belgium, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Sates.

Commercial sunbeds were developed in the 1970s and came into widespread use in the 1990s. The full health effects of tanning with artificially produced ultraviolet radiation are not yet known and, because skin cancer takes a longtime to develop, it will take several years before the role of sunbeds in inducing skin cancer becomes clear.

What is a sunbed?

A sunbed (British English), tanning bed (American English) or sun tanning bed is a device which emits Ultraviolet radiation typically (97% UVA and 3% UVB) in order to produce out a cosmetic tan. Regular tanning beds use several fluorescent lamps that have phosphor blends designed to emit ultraviolet in a spectrum that is somewhat similar to the sun. These rays expand the pigment called Melanin that already exists in the skin before producing a short-term tan.

However, these rays will damage the collagen and the elastic of the skin and also it can contribute towards the formation of skin cancers. A longer lasting tan will be produced with the UVA rays. These rays stimulate the pigment in the skin so as to increase in production.

Moreover, these rays will also cause thickening of the skins surface layers and is known to cause sunburn and skin cancers. There are a number of sunbeds which emit both UVA and a small amount of UVB rays. These tend to produce a faster result requiring a shorter treatment time.

Smaller home tanning beds usually have 12 to 28100 watt lamps while systems found in the tanning salons can consist of 24 to 60 lamps, each of 100 to 200 watts. There are also “high pressure” tanning beds that generate primarily UVA with some UVB by using highly specialized quartz lamps, reflector systems and filters. A tanning booth is similar to a tanning bed, but the person stands while the tanning and the typical power output of booths is higher.

A sunbed normally consist of a bed that is contoured to ensure even tanning on all sides of the body. The bed normally has overhead the canopy to eliminate the need for the client to turn over thus reducing treatment time. More widely available now are vertical tanning beds. These ask the client to stand for the treatment whilst the sunbed surrounds the body on all sides, that is, almost like a room. This avoids contact of the skin with the sunbed which tends to cause perspiration. This is generally felt to be more hygienic.

Most modern tanning beds have not changed much from the previous systems. The lamps technology and electronics have evolved other the years, but the basic “low pressure” tanning bed has not evolved.  The original ballast systems used in the first tanning beds, both “European choke” and magnetic, are still in use today although there are now many other choices including electromagnetic and high frequency. The lamps are still using fluorescent type, using special phosphors that create a spectrum in the UVA and UVB range although there has been a great deal of advancement over the years to make the light spectrum they emit more “sun-like”.

The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Although ultraviolet is visible to the human eye, most people are aware of the effects of ultraviolet through the painful condition of sunburn, but the ultraviolet spectrum has many other effects, both beneficial and damaging to the human health. Ultraviolet radiation in the region of 260nm can cause photochemical reactions in deoxyribonucleic molecules, causing mutation and destroying microorganisms, including bacteria and viruses. Ultraviolet light is found in sunlight and is emitted by electric arcs and specialized lights such as black lights. It can cause chemical reactions, and causes many substances to glow or fluoresce. Most ultraviolet is classified as non-ionizing radiation.

Non-ionizing radiations are radiations with photons that do not have enough energy to ionize molecules. Visible light, infrared, microwave, and radio radiations are all non-ionizing radiation. They produce a warming effect when absorbed by material.

Example:

Infrared

Visible light

Microwave radiation

Radio waves

The lower the photon energy is the smaller the heating effect. The higher energies of the ultraviolet spectrum from about 150nm (‘vacuum’ ultraviolet) are ionizing, but this type of ultraviolet is not very penetrating and is blocked by air.

Ionizing radiations are photons of radiations that can produce ion pairs in air. They are the sources of gamma radiations, x-rays, and ultraviolet radiation pack a lot of energy into each photon. So absorbers get a lot of energy from each photon. These photons have a strong local effect – they can ionize.

According to the World Health Organization, it does not recommended the use of ultraviolet tanning devices for cosmetic purposes because of the harmful effects on the human health of overexposure to ultraviolet radiation, including skin cancer, cataracts, suppression of the immune system, and premature skin aging. In fact, most tanning beds emit mainly UVA rays which may increase the melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Using sunbeds without knowing any information about this may also lead to a condition known as an arc eye (snow blindness). However, a regular, short dose of ultraviolet exposure, in particular UVB exposure, is believed to reduce the risk of several cancers.

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What is a skin?

The skin is one of the most amazing organs in the human body. It is hard for us to think about it as an organ; however we tend to think of organs as boxy thinks, that is, your heart, liver, kidneys – those who are obviously organs. But skin is an organ too, especially if you look at the dictionary definition of “organ”, like this definition from the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary:

Organ:-

  • Differentiated structure (as a heart, kidney, leaf, or stem) consisting of cells tissues and performing some specific function in an organism.
  • ...

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