An Exacerbation of SLE After Visiting a Tanning Salon

To the Editor.— The public's desire to achieve a tan is reflected in the proliferation of commercial tanning salons. For example, in the 1980 Boston Yellow Pages there were no listings for tanning salons. By 1983, there were 24 such listings, and by 1985 there were 58. In its 1985 Yellow Pages advertisement, the largest of the tanning salon chains in Boston states that it provides a guaranteed tan in six visits, and is safer than the sun. Our patient's experience, and experimental findings, provide increasing evidence that exposure to ultraviolet light in the A range (UVA) in tanning salons is harmful and can be especially dangerous to certain patients. Report of a Case.— A 30-year-old woman was referred for evaluation of a rash of approximately two weeks' duration. After several years of intermittent polyarthralgias, a diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) was finally made in January 1984. At this