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 In this section:

        Radiation-Emitting Products and Procedures

Tanning

                        
                Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation
          Your Skin
          The Risks of Tanning
          Tanning Products Home
          Radiation-Emitting Products
          Radiation-Emitting Products and Procedures
          TanningRadiation-Emitting Products and Procedures Tanning
  	
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    PrintThis 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)

                                                                                  Content current as of:
      05/21/2019
                  
                   
Regulated Product(s)
		 Radiation-Emitting Products
			  			     			  						              
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
			  
			  Tanning Lamps, Booths & BedsTanning                
                          

                        Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation
          Your Skin
          The Risks of Tanning
          Tanning Products
 
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