Tanning Procedures may lead to Skin Cancer

BELGIUM: European Union experts have warned that sun beds and tanning lamps may increase the risk of skin cancer. They have also advised against their use by children and other people at high risk.

"We need to act rapidly in order to raise public awareness of the risks associated with sunbeds," EU Public Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said.

"I am concerned that indiscriminate use of these tanning devices for cosmetic purposes could lead to an increased incidence of skin-cancers."

Sun beds and tanning lamps are not a harmless alternative to natural sunlight, said the 43-page report of the EU's Scientific committee on Consumer Products.

It gave no EU-wide figures, but officials said that in Britain alone that some 100 people a year are believed to die from exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sun beds and tanning lamps.

Kyrprianou said the EU would consider legislating a limit to the radiation power of these devices and stricter labeling.

Sun beds used in tanning salons use the more powerful UV-B type of
radiation.

The EU report said that people under 18 and those with pale skin, freckles or a family history of skin cancer should not use sun beds.
Ireland last month announced that it would ban the use of sun beds by people aged 15 and younger as part of a new plan to reduce the country's cancer rate. Authorities in Nordic nations last year advised against the use of sun beds, particularly for young people.

The report said since "tanning devices were not in widespread use before the 1990s ... the full health effects of their use are not yet known."

"It will take several years before the real picture of the role of the UVR tanning devices in inducing skin cancer becomes fully apparent," it said. "This is due to the long induction period of the cancer."

But it concluded that based on available evidence, "the use of UVR tanning devices to achieve and maintain cosmetic tanning ... is likely to increase the risk of malignant" skin cancer.

The risk "seems to be particularly high when using sun beds at a young age. Thus UVR tanning devices should not be used by individuals under the age of 18 years," said the report.

In Britain, the sun bed industry is entirely unregulated, with about a quarter of the country’s 8,000 tanning centres belonging to the Sun bed Association, which has a voluntary code of conduct suggesting that no one under 16 should use sun beds. However, investigations have shown that many parlours offer tanning to children and other high-risk people without any warnings.