Is DHA Safe? What the Research Says About Spray Tan

On your skin, yes: DHA is approved by the FDA as a color additive for external use, and safety panels in Europe and the UK have concluded it is safe for adults at the concentrations used in tanning products. What has not been established is its safety in the eyes, on the lips, inside the nose or in the lungs, which is why a good spray tan keeps it away from all four.

Dihydroxyacetone is one of the most studied cosmetic ingredients in the beauty aisle, and also one of the most dramatically reported. Every few summers a headline does the rounds, and every few summers Rosie gets the same text from a client on Ocean Parkway: should I cancel? This article is the long answer. For the bigger picture, including pregnancy, teens and skin conditions, start with the pillar guide, Is Spray Tanning Safe?

What DHA is, and what it does

DHA is a three-carbon sugar. Commercially it is usually produced by fermentation from glycerin, and your own body makes a phosphorylated form of it while breaking down glucose. On skin, it reacts with amino acids in the stratum corneum, the layer of dead cells on the very surface, to form brown pigments called melanoidins. That browning process is a cousin of the Maillard reaction that colors toast.

Because the color forms in cells your body is already shedding, a spray tan develops over about eight hours and fades over roughly seven to ten days. It does not involve your melanocytes and it does not involve UV light. That is the main reason the American Academy of Dermatology considers sunless tanning a safer way to look tan than the sun or a tanning bed.

What the FDA says, precisely

The FDA lists DHA as a color additive permitted for external application(21 CFR 73.2150). In the FDA’s definitions, external means not on the lips and not on any surface covered by mucous membrane. A separate rule keeps DHA out of the area of the eye.

On its sunless tanners page, the FDA adds that use of DHA as an all-over spray in commercial booths has not been approved, because exposure to the eyes, lips, mucous membranes and lungs may be hard to avoid in that setting and no safety data has been submitted for those routes. Its advice to consumers is practical: ask whether you will be protected, and if not, request measures to protect your eyes and mucous membranes and to prevent inhalation.

Read carefully, that is not a warning that DHA is dangerous. It is a statement about which uses have been reviewed and which have not. Skin: reviewed and approved. Eyes, lips, nose, lungs: not reviewed, so protect them.

What European and UK safety panels concluded

Europe has looked at DHA more than once. Cancer Research UK summarizes a 2020 review by the EU’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety as finding that fake tan products containing DHA are not a health risk, and states plainly that fake and spray tans do not cause cancer. That committee’s opinion covered self-tanning lotions and creams; an earlier committee opinion had considered spray cabins and, weighing the inhalation route, accepted their use at the concentrations then on the market.

In October 2024, the UK’s own advisory group on consumer product safety (SAG-CS) published an opinion that found DHA safe for adults at set concentrations, including in weekly spray-booth tans. The same opinion said it could not reach a conclusion on use by children, because exposure data in younger people is missing. That is relevant to parents, and we come back to it in what age can you get a spray tan.

The studies behind the headlines

Most alarming DHA stories trace back to laboratory research. It is worth knowing what those studies were, because the details change how they read.

Cell studies

Researchers have exposed cultured human skin cells to DHA directly and seen stress responses, including DNA damage and cell death, in work going back to a 2004 study on keratinocytes. Cells in a dish have no protective dead-skin layer on top, and the concentrations are chosen to provoke a measurable effect. These studies are useful for asking questions. They are not, on their own, evidence that a spray tan on intact skin causes harm.

Free radicals and sunlight

A laboratory study by Jung and colleagues, published in 2008 and indexed on PubMed, found that DHA-treated skin samples produced substantially more free radicals under UV exposure than untreated skin. The practical takeaway is not to avoid DHA; it is to keep wearing sunscreen and be especially sun-careful the day of your tan. More in does a spray tan protect you from the sun.

Inhalation in animals

A 2024 University of Alabama at Birmingham study in Toxicology Reports had mice inhale DHA aerosol and found lung inflammation and injury, more so at higher doses. The authors linked their doses partly to e-cigarette exposure and partly to European estimates for spray booths, described their findings as preliminary, and noted that real human inhalation from spray tanning has not been measured. It is a reasonable signal to take seriously, which is exactly what protecting your airways does.

Can you breathe in spray tan?

Some mist can reach the air around your face during any spray application. How much depends heavily on how the tan is applied. An automated booth fires a cloud at your whole body, face included. A hand-held airbrush, in the hands of someone paying attention, sends the spray where it is pointed.

Here is what reduces exposure in practice:

• Close your eyes for every pass near the face.
• Hold your breath for the few seconds the face is sprayed, and breathe out before breathing in.
• Use nose filters if you would like them. Ask your artist.
• Put lip balm on before you start.
• Choose a room with good airflow, where mist does not hang in the air.
• Skip the face spray entirely if you prefer, and have the face blended by hand. See the face spray tan guide for options.

If you have asthma or any lung condition, ask your doctor before booking, and tell your artist so she can plan the face around it. If you are pregnant, read what I’d tell my pregnant sister and talk to your OB.

Does DHA cause skin reactions?

Reactions to DHA itself appear to be uncommon, though dryness and irritation are possible. More often, sensitive skin reacts to the company DHA keeps: fragrance, some preservatives, alcohol, botanical extracts. If you have eczema, rosacea or known allergies, patch test first and ask your dermatologist. The sensitive-skin guide walks through how.

So, is DHA safe?

On intact skin, at the concentrations used in tanning products, the regulators that have reviewed it say yes for adults. In the eyes, on the lips, in the nose and in the lungs, nobody has shown it is safe, so the sensible move is to keep it out of those places. That is not a footnote; it is the technique.

At Rosie’s Midwood studio, every tan is applied by hand with a custom-blended, vegan, paraben-free DHA solution. If you have a question about your own skin or health, call or text (917) 326-0303 before you book, and bring your doctor’s advice with you.