While there haven't been extensive studies done on DHA and human cells, there have been several studies done on bacteria, animal, and other cells. Here's a breakdown of what they found:
• DHA can penetrate the skin and be absorbed into living skin cells. It was previously believed that it didn't get past the dead skin cells on top of your skin, says Rigel.
• Studies have found that DHA can alter the genes of cells. This hasn't been proven to happen with human cells yet, but Rigel says typically if these results are found with bacteria or animal cells, human cell testing is next.
• In addition to cancer risk, Lynn Goldman, MD, MPH, dean of the School of Public Health and Health Services at George Washington University, says there may also be risks for birth defects if a pregnant woman gets spray tans. However, this is only based on the initial studies done, since there have not been any studies on spray tanning and pregnant women.
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The real deal with DHA
Many spray tanning salons reassure customers by telling them that DHA is a food grade ingredient and safe to eat. And that's technically true -- but not when it comes to the DHA in spray tans.
There are actually two chemicals that are abbreviated DHA: One is Docosahexaenoic acid, an essential fatty acid that's often added to infant formula, but never to self-tanner. The other is Dihydroxyacetone, the active ingredient in spray tans, which is a colorless sugar that literally stains your dead skin cells brown, giving you your tan. "These two DHAs are not the same thing," says Rigel. "When someone says you can eat the DHA solution, they're talking about the food-grade DHA."
When ABC news did their initial report, they found Norvell Skin Solutions, one of the largest manufacturers of spray tan products, was telling its customers that they used food-grade DHA in their products. Norvell has since promised to correct its product descriptions.
Bad news for all of us pale folks: There really is no such thing as a "safe" tan. We already knew that tanning beds and laying out in the sun were killing us slowly, but now it seems we need to add spray tans and self-tanners to the list.
"I used to recommend spray tans and tell my patients there's no risk, but now I have some reservations," says Darrell Rigel, MD, a professor of dermatology at New York University. The reason he's concerned: the release of several studies showing that the active ingredient in spray tans, DHA, may damage DNA and cause cancer.
Naturally, as fellow advocates of spray tans (and as beauty editors who have spent our fair share of time in a spray tan booth), we were also worried. But since we live in a world where a trip through airport security or a call on our cell phones can also be considered risky, we weren't quite ready to pull the plug on our Mystic Tan sessions. We wanted to do some digging first and find out just how bad spray tans are for you, and if you really do need to give them up for good.
What we found was pretty shocking (and yes, a little scary). Keep reading to see the latest research and what the skin care experts have to say about spray tans, and decide for yourself if it's worth the risk to get a glow.
