Can tanning beds provide Vitamin D synthesis? Tanning beds have had a lot of negative press in the past decade over concerns of skin cancer. As long as you don’t ever get a sunburn, you use them sparingly and safely, and you don’t use them unless you are an adult they can be a safe source of Vitamin D. If you live in the northern hemisphere like I do in Toronto, Canada, the upper US, Europe, Asia, Siberia, you can’t get vitamin D synthesis from the sun during the winter months. Find out why not.