Suntan or Booth Tan: Your Skin Can't Tell the Difference

By Vilma Cokkinides, PhD

As summer approaches, we get a lot of reminders to protect our skin from the sun with sunscreen, shade, hats, and long sleeves. What doesn't get mentioned as often is indoor tanning.

Indoor tanning has become popular among young adult women and teenage girls. One chief motivation is that they believe they look more attractive and healthy with a tan. Many teens and their parents think getting a tan indoors is safer than tanning in the sun. But the truth is that tanning booths, lamps, or sunbeds emit ultraviolet (UV) radiation, just as the sun does. And exposure to UV radiation - whether from the sun or from a man-made source -- can raise your risk of skin cancer. More...