Tanning Beds (Indoor UV Tanning)
Everyday exposureBeauty & personal careAlso called · 10 names▾▴
tanning beds, sunbeds, sunbed pregnancy, indoor tanning pregnancy, tanning bed while pregnant, UV tanning, tanning booth, sunlamp tanning, tanning bed breastfeeding, indoor UV tanning
Personal care
General information · effects depend on amount, timing, and how it is used. About these sources
Research strength: 4 / 5
According to NCT, no studies have measured effects on a baby after sunbed use during pregnancy. NCT's statement marks a gap in pregnancy evidence; it does not show that tanning beds cause fetal harm. The FDA and CDC describe UV risks such as skin cancer, burns, and eye damage; these are general exposure risks. The CDC advises against indoor tanning for skin-cancer prevention. Ask your provider about your situation.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-18
Sources
- NCT: Beauty and wellbeing treatments during pregnancy and breastfeeding
- Gambichler et al.: Serum folate levels after UVA exposureUS government
- CDC: Reducing Risk for Skin CancerUS government
- FDA: Sunlamps and Sunlamp Products (Tanning Beds/Booths)US government
Research strength: 4 / 5
NCT reports no studies measuring effects on a baby after sunbed use during pregnancy. Gambichler et al. randomized 24 nonpregnant adults to UVA sunbed exposure or control and found no significant difference in serum folate; the trial did not assess pregnancy outcomes. The FDA and CDC describe UV risks, including skin cancer, burns, and eye injury. The CDC advises against indoor tanning for skin-cancer prevention. Ask your provider about your situation.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-18
Sources
- NCT: Beauty and wellbeing treatments during pregnancy and breastfeeding
- Gambichler et al.: Serum folate levels after UVA exposureUS government
- CDC: Reducing Risk for Skin CancerUS government
- FDA: Sunlamps and Sunlamp Products (Tanning Beds/Booths)US government
Research strength: 4 / 5
According to NCT, studies have not measured effects on a baby after sunbed use during pregnancy. Gambichler et al.'s adult UVA trial excluded pregnancy and did not measure fetal outcomes, so it cannot answer third-trimester questions. The FDA and CDC describe general UV injury and skin-cancer risks; these do not show a trimester-specific fetal effect. The CDC advises against indoor tanning for skin-cancer prevention. Ask your provider about your situation.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-18
Sources
- NCT: Beauty and wellbeing treatments during pregnancy and breastfeeding
- Gambichler et al.: Serum folate levels after UVA exposureUS government
- CDC: Reducing Risk for Skin CancerUS government
- FDA: Sunlamps and Sunlamp Products (Tanning Beds/Booths)US government
Tanning Beds (Indoor UV Tanning) — Breastfeeding
Research strength: 4 / 5
The sources reviewed do not report breast-milk or infant outcomes from indoor UV tanning. The available evidence concerns UV effects on the user's skin, including cancer, burns, and eye damage, not exposure through milk. The FDA and CDC describe these general UV risks, and the CDC advises against indoor tanning for skin-cancer prevention. No infant-effect conclusion is drawn from the absence of data. Ask your provider about your situation.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-18
Sources
- American Academy of Dermatology: 10 surprising facts about indoor tanning
- CDC: Reducing Risk for Skin CancerUS government
- FDA: Tanning ProductsUS government
Pregnancy
NCT states that no studies have measured effects on a baby after sunbed use during pregnancy. Wolf and Kenney's 2019 review says UVB can directly degrade folate in laboratory studies, while human findings about UV exposure and folate are mixed. Gambichler et al. (2001) randomized 24 healthy adults, 16 to an air-conditioned UVA sunbed and 8 to control, for six exposures over three weeks. The trial excluded pregnancy and reported no significant difference in serum folate; it did not measure pregnancy outcomes or fetal development. Gerami et al. (2025) studied melanoma and skin-cell mutations, not pregnancy outcomes.
Breastfeeding
The sources reviewed do not report breast-milk levels or infant outcomes after tanning-bed exposure. The human studies in this entry measure skin cancer, skin injury, skin-cell mutations, or blood folate in nonpregnant adults. No included study assessed a milk-mediated effect, so no conclusion about infant effects is made.
Indoor tanning beds use artificial ultraviolet radiation to darken the skin. The FDA says most tanning lamps emit both UVA and UVB, while some emit only UVA; equipment and output vary. This is a radiation exposure, not a topical skin-care ingredient.
What was tested
Gambichler et al. (2001) randomized 24 healthy volunteers with skin type II, 8 to a no-exposure control and 16 to six air-conditioned UVA sunbed sessions over three weeks; blood folate was measured at baseline and after exposure. The study excluded pregnancy. An et al. (2021) pooled 54 studies of skin cancer, including 36 melanoma studies with 14,583 cases and 18 non-melanoma skin cancer studies with 10,406 cases. Gerami et al. (2025) analyzed records from 2,932 dermatology-clinic patients with quantifiable tanning-bed use and 2,925 age-matched nonusers, and sequenced melanocytes from 11 tanning-bed users and comparison donors. It did not study pregnancy or breastfeeding.
How to interpret melanoma risk estimates
- Source A says
- The American Academy of Dermatology says indoor tanning can more than double melanoma risk. (American Academy of Dermatology: 10 surprising facts about indoor tanning)
- Source B says
- An et al. (2021) pooled 36 melanoma studies and found an overall relative risk of 1.27 and an early-onset relative risk of 1.75. Gerami et al. (2025) found an adjusted odds ratio of 2.85 in a selected dermatology-clinic case-control analysis. (An et al.: Indoor Tanning and the Risk of Overall and Early-Onset Melanoma and Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer, Gerami et al.: Molecular effects of indoor tanning, Science Advances 2025)
- Why they differ
- The meta-analysis pooled observational studies from multiple populations. The newer case-control study sampled a high-risk dermatology clinic, relied on self-reported exposure, and compared patients reporting at least 10 sessions with age-matched clinic controls. The odds ratio and pooled relative risk describe different study populations and are not interchangeable.
- What the evidence shows overall
- The evidence supports a general skin-cancer concern from indoor tanning. The 2021 pooled estimate and the 2025 clinic estimate should be reported with their populations and measures, rather than treating either as an absolute risk for every user or as a pregnancy outcome.
Public-health advice and harm-reduction wording
- Source A says
- The CDC advises against indoor tanning for skin-cancer prevention. The FDA says skin-cancer risk remains even when users follow its instructions. (CDC: Reducing Risk for Skin Cancer, FDA: Tanning Products)
- Source B says
- The UK sunbed advice discourages cosmetic use but gives adults who still wish to use a sunbed steps to seek guidance and limit sessions. (GOV.UK: Sunbeds safety advice)
- Why they differ
- The UK page adds harm-reduction steps for adults who continue to use sunbeds. It does not state that those steps remove the skin-cancer risk.
- What the evidence shows overall
- These sources agree that ultraviolet exposure can cause skin and eye harm. The UK adult-use steps describe limits for people who continue, not a claim that the risk disappears.
- The CDC advises against indoor tanning to lower skin-cancer risk. (CDC)
- The FDA says skin-cancer risk remains even when users follow its instructions to reduce UV exposure. (FDA)
- The UK sunbed advice tells adults who still wish to use a sunbed to seek guidance and limit repeated sessions. (GOV.UK: Sunbeds safety advice)
- The British Association of Dermatologists says UV light and sunbeds can trigger melasma or make it worse, and lists sunbed avoidance as a skin-protection measure. (British Association of Dermatologists)
General research, not specific to pregnancy.
Human evidence links indoor UV tanning with skin cancer and other UV injuries. This general exposure evidence supports the rating but does not establish pregnancy or milk-related effects.
- IARC classified UV-emitting tanning devices as carcinogenic to humans, Group 1, in 2009. (IARC: Sunbeds and UV Radiation)
- An et al. (2021) reported an overall melanoma relative risk of 1.27, an early-onset melanoma relative risk of 1.75, a squamous cell carcinoma relative risk of 1.58, and a basal cell carcinoma relative risk of 1.24. (An et al.: Indoor Tanning and the Risk of Overall and Early-Onset Melanoma and Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer)
- In Gerami et al. (2025), melanoma was recorded in 5.1% of the tanning-bed clinic cohort and 2.1% of age-matched clinic controls; the adjusted odds ratio was 2.85. These clinic figures are not general-population absolute risks. (Gerami et al.: Molecular effects of indoor tanning, Science Advances 2025)
- The CDC and FDA list skin cancer, burns, and eye injury among risks from ultraviolet tanning exposure. (CDC: Reducing Risk for Skin Cancer, FDA: Sunlamps and Sunlamp Products (Tanning Beds/Booths))
- COMARE's 2026 review says newer research supports the conclusion that sunbed use contributes to the UK's skin-cancer burden and other UV-related health effects. (COMARE: 21st report on sunbeds, GOV.UK summary)
Experiences from moms and non-medical voices. Not medical evidence.
One forum poster described mixed information and planned to ask an obstetrician. This is anecdotal, not medical evidence.
Collected 2026-10-18
- NCT: Beauty and wellbeing treatments during pregnancy and breastfeedingSecondaryPage dated 2024-11-15
- Wolf and Kenney: The vitamin D-folate hypothesis in human vascular healthUS governmentPrimary
- Gambichler et al.: Serum folate levels after UVA exposureUS governmentPrimaryIndependent check
- British Association of Dermatologists: MelasmaSecondary
- American Academy of Dermatology: 10 surprising facts about indoor tanningSecondaryPage dated 2026-07-30
- Balk et al.: Teens and Indoor Tanning: A Cancer Prevention Opportunity for PediatriciansUS governmentPrimary
- What to Expect community forum: pregnancy tanning discussionAnecdotal
- CDC: Reducing Risk for Skin CancerUS governmentSecondaryPage dated 2026-06-17Independent check
- FDA: Sunlamps and Sunlamp Products (Tanning Beds/Booths)US governmentSecondary
- FDA: Tanning ProductsUS governmentSecondary
- IARC: Sunbeds and UV RadiationInternational agencySecondaryPage dated 2009-07-29Independent check
- GOV.UK: Sunbeds safety adviceUK governmentSecondaryPage dated 2026-01-23Independent check
- COMARE: 21st report on sunbeds, GOV.UK summaryUK governmentSecondaryPage dated 2026-06-08
- An et al.: Indoor Tanning and the Risk of Overall and Early-Onset Melanoma and Non-Melanoma Skin CancerUS governmentPrimaryIndependent check
- Gerami et al.: Molecular effects of indoor tanning, Science Advances 2025US governmentPrimaryIndependent check
Last reviewed 2026-10-18
Independent check 2026-10-18
Not yet clinician-reviewed
Ask your provider about your situation.