TeachableMedicalNews article 03272022

Teachable moment in classrooms:

  1. chemical basis of life – proteins are made of amino acid building blocks
  2. integumentary system – layers (strata) of the epidermis
  3. integumentary system chapter – melanocytes make the brown pigment melanin
  4. endocrine system chapter – anterior pituitary makes the melanocyte stimulating hormone

The news item:  Recently a report appeared about TikTok influencers who inhale nasal spray to get a tan:

I inhale dangerous tanning nasal sprays because I’d rather die hot than live ugly

Beauty influencers are taking to TikTok to show themselves snorting sprays that they claim give them a golden tan – but doctors warn the products could be both ineffective and dangerous.

The article states that the influencers claim to get a glowing bronze skin color from the inhaled spray, that the spray has the active ingredient dihydroxy methylchromonyl palmitate which is not approved for inhalation, and that the TikTok posts have hundreds of thousands likes.

So, Why Do I Care??  Social media influencers can act very convincingly, even when they encourage unhealthy actions for their followers. The use of a chemical designed to be used on top of the skin may damage the nasal passages, or it may cause serious illness. This is a great example of how vigilant and skeptical we have to be when seeing something that looks too good to be true.

Plain English, Please!!!

First, let’s talk about the natural process that gives skin a tanned color. In the top region, the epidermis, of the skin there are cells called melanocytes that make a brown-colored pigment called melanin. Melanin is made inside the melanocytes from the amino acid tyrosine; the reaction is catalyzed by the enzyme called tyrosinase. The more melanin we have in our skin, the darker our skin color is.

Second, let’s talk about how do spray tanning works. The top layer, the stratum corneum, of epidermis, which is made up of dead, dry cells. A large amount of protein called keratin resides inside those dead cells. Tanning sprays blow chemicals on the stratum corneum, and those chemicals react with the amino acids of keratin, and create a brownish-colored chemical product. In other words, the tanning spray used in the TikTok videos is little more than a can of spray paint.  The active ingredient in those topical skin sprays is the same as the ingredient of the spray used by the TikTok influencer as nasal spray. Therefore, the claim of the influencers doesn’t ring true. A dihydroxy methylchromonyl palmitate nasal spray may color the inside of the nose, but not the skin.

Third, let’s talk about products designed to tan the skin from the inside. Melanotan is the active ingredient in nasal sprays for tanning from the inside. Because melanotan is an artificial form of a hormone called melanocyte stimulating hormone (MeSH), it has to be absorbed into the blood through the blood vessels inside our noses. Just like MeSH, melanotan speeds up the melanin production by melanocytes, and, thus, increases the brownish color of the skin. Beta carotene is the active ingredient in a tanning pill. It is absorbed into blood in the small intestine, and then deposited into the skin to give it a yellowish golden hue.

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