Finally some people are starting to realize the risk of tanning salons, I for one have known from the very beggining that these things are a damn health hazard. In my line of work I often work with ultraviolet or infrared energy. Both IR and Uv energy is given off by the sun, However infrared energy is completely invisible to the human eye. UV energy is is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than xrays, In the range of 10nm to 405nm. Black lights are often just filtered ultra violet lights, it can cause chemical reaction and cause many substances to glow or flouresce. What they use in tanning salons is often unfiltered uv light. In one of my last experiments that I conducted I was working with very high uv light, I used a blu-ray ultraviolet laser diode often found in blu ray dvd players. I built a laser diode driver circuit using a series of capacitors, resistors, and potentiometers. The point of the experiment was to succesfully build an ultraviolet laser with wavelengths of up to 405nm. It was a success but the laser was also concentrated enough to burn wood matches or tape. Ultraviolet light can be a health hazard to us, but it also has many other great uses, such as growing plants ( Yes that includes marijuana ). Recently I experimented usin both infrared and uv light on two of the same plants, they both worked but the uv light easily beat the Infrared. Infrared may seem familiar to you because it is used in many things from cameras to night vision goggles.

Infrared energy is invisible to the human eye but it can be seen using a camera or night vision goggles. Infrared is a spectrum of light that is invisible to the human eye but if you use a camera than you can see its glowing light. Often many night vision goggles are just unfiltered cameras with a series of infrared leds.  These infrared leds will create a bright infrared light that cant be seen by human eyes but can easily be seen by the unfiltered camera, you can think of it as an invisible flashlight. Infrared light is also a hazard, I have also worked with infrared lasers to but they can be quite dangerous.

The bottom line is that uv light and infrared light can both be hazardous. Uv light is in tanning and can increase your chances of getting skin cancer, so if you hate your wife get her a coupon to a tanning salon.