22 January 2010
Cancer experts at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust are supporting a private member's bill (a bill put to Government by MPs) to ban under 18 year olds from using sunbeds in local tanning salons.
The calls for stricter regulations and an increase in the minimum age limit follows evidence that the use of sunbeds increases the risk of skin cancer, as well as reports that children as young as 11 are using the unsupervised tanning booths.
The Trust's leading skin cancer expert, Dr Christopher Harland, explained the dangers of sunbeds. He said: "The risk of skin cancer is increased by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays. The more you are exposed to these rays, which damage the DNA in our skin cells, the more likely you are to develop skin cancer. And the damage adds up over the course of your life - so if you start using tanning booths and exposing yourself to intense levels of harmful rays at a young age, you increase the risk of developing skin cancer.
"We know that there's a lot of pressure on young people to look good - and that can involve having a tan. But the sad fact is, having a tan and using these tanning booths will age your skin more quickly and by the time you're an adult, there's a good chance that you'll have saggy, wrinkly skin.
"If you want to get a tan, you should get a spray tans or use fake tan. It looks just as good but won't damage your health and they won't age your skin prematurely - that's definitely the way forward."
Additionally, you should never use a sunbed if you:
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burn easily;
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have a lot of moles;
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have had skin cancer in the past;
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have a family history of skin cancer;
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are using medication that increases your sensitivity to UV;
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have fair or freckly skin.
Dr Harland added: "80 per cent of the people we see with skin cancer have spent too much time unprotected in the sun or on sunbeds. We hope that this legislation is passed and will stop young people in the area damaging their skin needlessly."
