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Gene/Brian:Gene is correct and Brian is incorrect regarding 1.0 MED. The "time to sunburn" is 1.0 MED, not 4.0 MED. The problem comes from the fact that 4.0 MED is known as the "te" value which is often called "time to erythema" erroneously. The 4.0 value is the maximum allowable dose after a person has developed a base tan and it is 5.33 times higher than the dose allowed on the initial session time.The following definitions are often confused.1. 0.75 MED = Initial Session Time (IST)2. 1.0 MED = Time To Sunburn (TTS) Also called MTE (minutes to erythema).3. 4.0 MED = Maximum Regulatory Dose (MRD) also called MAD (maximum allowable dose).Once you know the MED/minute, you divide the above by this value and you can calculate the appropriate times.For instance, if you have a lamp that reads 0.25 MED/minute, it takes 3 minutes to reach 0.75 MED (0.75 divided by 0.25)which would be the IST; 4 minutes to reach 1.0 MED (1.0 divided by 0.25) which is the TTS; and 16 minutes to reach 4.0 MED (4.0 divided by 0.25) which is the MAD.The problem we all face is that there are no standards that all sunlamp and/or sunbed manufacturers must follow in testing their products. Therefore, there is no way to "prove" that one manufacturer is "right" and another is "wrong" and so we, salon owners, suffer the consequences.You don't have to fly blind; you can purchase a Solartech Model 7.0 (MED/hour) Meter for $179 and verify that your lamps are in compliance yourself. Take the reading, divide the result by 60 and you get MED/minute.Keep in mind that the Bellarium S was originally a 30 minute lamp. It reaches 4.0 MED in 28 minutes in a Sun 32 lamp 20 minute MTI sunbed. Therefore, it is a "strong" 30 minute lamp and a "forgiving" 20 minute lamp.What chaps my a** is the BS that manufacturers of sunbeds put out with no "real world" data to support it. If they are selling a 20 minute MTI sunbed with a lamp that takes 25 minutes to reach 4.0 MED, they should tell us so because we ASSUME that it will reach 4.0 MED in 20 minutes.Hope this helps.Don
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