Sunbeds as lethal as cigarettes: Experts class tanning with smoking and asbestos as top cancer risks

Sunbeds are as great a cancer threat as cigarettes, global health chiefs have declared.

The dangers of ‘binge tanning’ are so significant that sunbeds have been placed
on the World Health Organisation’s list of the most cancer-causing substances and
habits, alongside arsenic and asbestos.

Before this, sunbeds and sunlamps had been classified as ‘probably carcinogenic’, placing them one rung below the most dangerous products.

Sunbed

High risk: Ultra-violet radiation could trigger cancer according to scientists

After reviewing the latest evidence, WHO scientists decided there was no doubt that
ultra-violet radiation could trigger the disease.

This means that sunbathing is also classified as high risk. But the intensity of the UV light emitted by sunbeds means a 20-minute visit to some booths is the equivalent to spending an entire day on the beach.

The data will be made available to the Government, including the Department of Health which is facing increasing pressure to clamp down on sunbed use.

Critics say the Government has so far failed to take any meaningful action to regulate the hundreds of tanning salons around the country.

An estimated three million Britons regularly use sunbeds, with children as young as 11 using the equipment to achieve tans like those of celebrity idols.

Government guidelines advise against use by youngsters but many sunbeds are in unstaffed, coin-operated booths, meaning there is no screening of customers.

Sunbeds are also increasingly powerful, with the UV output from modern machines ten to 15 times more intense than the midday sun on a Mediterranean beach.

Announcing the reclassification in the Lancet Oncology medical journal, the experts warned that the use of sunbeds and lamps was widespread in many developed countries, especially among young women.

The alert comes amid concern about soaring rates of the most deadly form of skin cancer.

 

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Sunbed use is partly blamed for the number of cases of malignant melanoma more
than doubling in just 20 years. Some 9,417 men and women in England developed the disease between 1985 and 1987. But by 2004-2006, the figure had risen to 24,356.

Research analysed by the WHO included a large-scale review which concluded that using sunbeds before the age of 30 raises the odds of skin cancer by 75 per cent. Some of the studies also flagged up a convincing link between sunbeds and eye cancer.

Dr Beatrice Secretan, of the WHO'S International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), described the reclassification as ‘significant’.

She said: ‘It means sunbeds are now up there with such things as cigarettes and
alcohol as the most dangerous products to use when it comes to developing cancer.

‘What we do now is send this advice to the various regulatory bodies around the world. We hope our message will get across to the owners of these machines as well as
the users.’

Sunbeds

Dangerous: Research says sunbeds can raise the odds of cancer by 75 per cent

Cancer Research UK said the reclassification reinforced its call for sunbed use to
be regulated by law.

Jessica Harris, the charity’s health information officer, said: ‘The link between sunbeds and skin cancer has been convincingly shown in a number of scientific
studies now and so we are very pleased that IARC have upgraded sunbeds to the
highest risk category. This backs up Cancer Research UK’s advice to avoid
sunbeds completely for cosmetic purposes.

They have no health benefits and we know that they increase the risk of cancer.
‘Given the dangers of sunbeds, we want the Government to act now to ban under-
18s from using sunbeds, close salons that aren’t supervised by trained staff and
ensure information about the risks of using sunbeds is given to all customers.’

Nina Goad, of the British Association of Dermatologists, said: ‘It is high time that
steps were taken to regulate the industry, to prevent children using sunbeds, and to
ensure that sunbeds are subject to health warnings like other known carcinogens.

‘At the moment, many salons are free to advertise somewhat spurious health “benefits” of using sunbeds, but offer no advice on health risks.

‘Hopefully, categorising sunbeds as a known carcinogen will prompt the Government
to introduce compulsory health warnings on tanning beds.

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‘Recent research shows that many sunbeds are not maintained, emit worryingly
high levels of UV, and are not subject to any safety checks.’ But the Sunbed Association, the industry body, said there was ‘no proven link between the responsible
use of sunbeds and skin cancer’.

Chief executive Kathy Banks said: ‘The relationship between UV exposure and an
increased risk of developing skin cancer is only likely to arise where over-exposure, in
other words burning, has taken place.

‘Research has shown that more than 80 per cent of sunbed users are very knowledgeable about the risks associated with over-exposure to UV, and the majority of sunbed users take 20 or fewer sessions a year.’

A spokesman for the Department of Health said the WHO data would be considered
alongside a report from radiation advisers at the Committee on Medical
Aspects of Radiation in the Environment, or COMARE.

He said: ‘Sunbeds can be dangerous – we must ensure that people who use them do
so safely. If necessary we will look at new laws to protect young people.

‘We commissioned the report from COMARE to give us a better understanding of the issues around sun beds.’

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