Dihydroxyacetone, also known as DHA, is used
as a sunless tanning agent. DHA reacts with various amino acids in the skin’s
upper layer, to produce a yellow-brown color similar to a tan produced by the
sun. A tan produced from the sun involves ultraviolet radiation which
penetrates a much deeper layer of skin, past the dead cells at the surface, and
can cause skin cancer after many years of exposure. Achieving a tan using DHA
instead of UV rays from the sun is a great way to minimize your risk of skin
cancer as the deep layer of skin is not exposed to any carcinogenic UV
radiation from prolonged sunlight exposure.
In the past dihydroxyacetone has been used
in X-rays and experimented with to treat children with glycogen storage
disease. Now, it is being used to create the look of a tan without UV
radiation. In the future DHA may have another use that we have not yet
determined. There have been some very interesting findings agree that there may
be more we don’t know about DHA. A recent study has found that DHA may delay
skin cancer! Hairless mice were exposed to UV radiation, some had a lotion
containing 5% DHA applied, others had a lotion of 20% DHA applied and some had
nothing applied. The experiment found that the mice which had nothing applied
developed tumours more quickly than the mice that had the 5% DHA lotion
applied. The mice that had 20% DHA applied developed tumours much later than
the other groups of mice! Sunless tanning lotion labels still state that you
should use sunscreen and that sunless tanning lotions do not protect against UV
rays from the sun. While scientists are currently uncertain if these findings
can be related to humans, there is much more to learn about DHA and its
effects!
