Spray Tanning - Is it Really Safe?

To most people, spray tanning is a cool and 'safe' way to get a dark tan, nobody ever thought that people would be getting their tans just by entering spray tanning booths and spray tanning salons, or even have them done at home by hand self spraying yourself.

It is a fact that spray tanning is considered safe all over the world and more and more people are going for it because of the approval of the FDA (food and drug administration).

The food and drug administration has not approved entirely on spray tanning, it is the main ingredient used in it that has been approved of. Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) is the main ingredient used in every spray tanning product and it is the chemical that makes our skins
darker.

Is DHA really safe? Yes, it is considered a safe skin coloring chemical and has the FDA's approval. However, the FDA's approval does not include the other chemicals used in spray tanning products such as mercury, lead and arsenic.

These other chemicals combined with DHA in spray tanning solutions can be quite poisonous and dangerous to human skin. The result won't appear directly but over the years, at the mean time the result will be a perfect tan which will fade in 5-7 days time and make you go for another one.

Everybody is aware of the skin damages natural tanning can cause you; little do they know that fake tanning can be much worse and cause many side effects later in life.

So the truth about spray tanning, how safe is it? It is relative as some spray tanning systems are safer than others. The riskiest ones are the ones that have poor or ventilation. These low quality systems will cause you to eventually inhale the harful chemicals and that is the biggest risk to people who enjoy artifical tans.
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Dihydroxyacetone is the main ingredient used in spray tanning products, it is considered a safe skin coloring chemical and has been known for many years.

In fact, the DHA's skin darkening ability was discovered by a female doctor in the mid 1990s when dihydroxyacetone was used in medicine they gave to children by mouth. The kids often spit the liquid out and it would touch their skin and after a few hours time, the doctor realized that the surface of their skin turned brown.

That is when the doctor assumed that this unique chemical could possibly make human skin darker without damage or harm and so she began testing it by painting some DHA on her own skin.

Even earlier before her, German scientist had knowledge of its ability but had to put it on hold as they began putting their effort towards war tools for World War II.

After several tests, DHA was confirmed to be safe on skin and many who suffer from vitiligo used it cover up their skin disease and make their skin a single color so it is considered a treatment for patients who suffer this peculiar skin disease.

Fortunately, due to all scientists' beliefs, it is non-toxic in any way and that is when the Food and Drug Administration in the United States added it to the list of approved cosmetic ingredients (early 1970s) and by 1980 more and more spray tanning and UV-free tanning products starting appearing.

There are however, other ingredients used in some spray tanning products and lotions that help make people skin darker, but dihydroxyacetone remains the most important ingredient used because it is the most effective on skin.

To many people's disappointment, even the largest amount of DHA only lasts temporarily, so people have to use it continuously in order for them to stay dark for a long period of time. Sometimes the surface of the skin gets so used to the chemicals and ingredients used that it becomes something natural, so people who had difficulty darkening their skin before have to do it several times before it starts working properly.

Spray tanning solutions and spray tanning products are considered safe by almost everybody when in reality it isn't. It's mostly because spray tanning salons are growing more and more popular and more people want to get tanned the easy way.

Everybody hears about how the sun can damage your skin and give you sun burns if you stay out without sun block too long, and all of a sudden they hear a convenient way of getting a UV-free sunless tan so they rush to it.

There is no doubt everybody wants to look good, and after hearing the approval of the Food and Drug Administration of the main ingredient used in spray tanning products they ask no more questions and head to the salon, it's only natural.

What's unfortunate is that people don't give any time reading the ingredients written on the spray tanning products they buy from. And some people are well aware of the risks they are taking but simply cannot resist.

If this is your problem and you want to go for a spray tan anyway, you should at least take all the safety precautions.

These precautions you will have to know of yourself because most salons don't inform you of them from fear of loosing their customers.

You should always have your eyes, nostrils and ears covered when you're in a spray tanning booth or during any spray tanning process. The FDA itself recommends wearing goggles for eye protection. Also make sure you do not inhale any of the spray tanning lotion, it can cause major side effects and possible diseases in the future.