Anyone with little more than an ounce of knowledge about ultraviolet light will know that it is sub-divided into three ranges: UVA, UVB and UVC. I think it’s fair to say that just about everyone working in the indoor tanning industry would know that it’s exposure to a combination of UVA and UVB that’s required in order to create a tan on our skin. They would probably also know that the sun emits UVC rays, too, and that exposure to these rays is known to be dangerous to humans; but that the earth’s surface, and ergo, humans are protected from UVC radiation as they are filtered out by the earth’s upper atmosphere.
What industry insiders and the general population at large may or may not know is that most UVB rays are also absorbed by the upper atmosphere but that some UVB, together with UVA, reach the earth’s surface. And it’s the appropriate combination of UVA and UVB that is delivered by the lamps during a tanning bed session to mimic the sun’s rays that nature intended to reach the earth’s surface and tan the user.
In Europe, we have scientific committees, similar to your FDA, that respond to requests from the European Union (EU) to provide risk assessment on a range of topics, known as an “Opinion.” These committees change their names from time to time, for whatever reason, and the one that is of interest to the indoor tanning community is currently known as SCHEER – Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks.
It was an Opinion from SCHEER’s predecessor, SCENIHR (Scientific Committee on Newly Identified Health Risks), that determined the current output of a commercial tanning bed. But, remember: for indoor tanning, these Opinions are only referring to UVA and UVB – radiation wavelengths from the sun that nature intended to reach the earth’s surface and its inhabitants – not UVC, which is known to be dangerous to humans and is filtered out by nature before it reaches the earth’s surface.
So, here’s a strange thing … no it’s more than that; it’s a very strange thing indeed.
The aforementioned Committee, SCHEER, has recently published an Opinion on UVC exposure and humans. The accompanying Fact Sheet to the Opinion is entitled: “UVC lamps: could something that kills bacteria and viruses also harm you?” I think we would all feel fairly secure in knowing the answer to that one. Duh! Yes! If in any doubt, just take a look at what the World Health Organisation (WHO) says about UVC: “UVC is the most damaging type of UV radiation. However, it is completely filtered by the atmosphere and does not reach the earth’s surface.”
So, imagine my utter incredulity at the content of this particular SCHEER Opinion Fact Sheet: Although most of the appliances using UVC lamps are sealed systems that prevent exposure, devices that may directly expose consumers to UVC radiation are increasingly placed on the market. Several incidents of skin or eye damage resulting from accidents have been reported prompting the EU to ask SCHEER to conduct a risk assessment; UVC is considered to be carcinogenic to humans but there is not enough data to conduct a quantitative cancer risk assessment of exposure from UVC lamps; SCHEER cannot reach a conclusion on their safety.
Can you believe this? When it comes to SCHEER’s Opinions on UV light, my opinion is that there is sheer bias.
