Introduction
What is Beach Tanning?
Beach tanning is the process of coloring the skin brownish through formation of pigment melanin accordingly inside the skin by the exposing skin to sun’s ultraviolet rays. The ultra violet rays in the sun stimulate the production of melanin through melanocytes. The pigments we have within the skin absorbs the UV radiation so that it cannot do any damage to the cells. Our body takes some time to produce melanin needed to be tanned that is the reason why people cannot get tanned through beach tanning in a day. An exposure over a short period of beach tanning is needed to activate the melanocytes.
History
Why is Beach Tanning Dangerous?
There are two types of pigments produced by the melanocytes. They are brown eumelanin, and yellow and red phaeomelanin. The red heads produces less eumelanin, and morephaeomelanin. These overproductions of morephaeomelanin by red heads do not allow people with red skin to tan well through beach tanning. The albinos lack one enzyme called Tyrosinase that restricts the process of melanin production and can never get tanned thereby through beach tanning.
Features
Sun light comes to earth 3 forms, such as, ultraviolet, visible light and infrared or heat. The sun light can also be categorized according to their wave length in the following ways Ultra Violet A, Ultra Violet B & Ultra Violet C. UV A has longer wave length than UV B, similarly UV B is higher in wave length than UV C:
Ultra violet C (wave length 100 to 280 nanometers): A nanometer is billionth of a meter. These light is absorbed by the atmosphere never reaches us
Ultra violet B (280 to 315 nanometers): It results the sunburn.
Ultra violet A (315 to 400 nanometers): It is required for beach tanning.
The UV rays emitted by suns are further reflected by earth’s surface in an amplified way. The snow reflects 90% of UV rays that causes snow blindness. Sands also reflect it by 20% to give you more UV rays while you tan at beach.
The risks and dangers of beach tanning range from mild to grave. The mild complication of beach tanning is that over 90% of beach tanners report of visible sign of aging and wrinkles on the skin due to the exposure to the UV of sun rays. The serious complication like skin cancer occurs to many tanners by the development of Basal Cell Carcinoma. The next common form skin cancer that results from excessive beach tanning is Squamos Cell Carcinoma which is diagnosed with an annual average of 700,000 cases with a fatality rate around 4%.
Tips and Comments
Our skins get damaged by the combined effect of UVA & UVB rays. Between these two although UVA are less intensive and less damaging than UVB but accounts for more than 95% of the radiation we receive at earth. UVB is needed for the beach tanning. Melanocytes when exposed to UV B rays create pigments called melanin responsible for darkening the skin. Tanning is actually the natural process of resistance or defense system of our body to protect harmful effects of UV rays in our daily lives. So by beach tanning we expose our own natural defense system to its eternal rival.
