Sunbed users face nearly triple the risk of skin cancer compared with a decade ago as a result of higher-powered equipment, medical experts will warn today.
A survey of tanning studios, health spas and sports complexes found that 83% of sunbeds exceeded limits for ultraviolet radiation exposure laid down in European safety guidelines. The survey revealed a 30% rise in the number of unregulated, privately operated sunbeds and an increase in the use of lamps which emit up to twice as much UV(B) radiation as a typical sunbed 10 years ago.
The warning follows research from the World Health Organisation in November which found that people who used sunbeds in their teens and 20s were 75% more likely to develop malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, than those who began using sunbeds later in life.
Harry Moseley, head of the photobiology unit at Ninewells hospital and medical school in Dundee, and officials with local environmental health departments, recorded UV levels from sunbeds in unannounced visits to 133 sunbeds at 50 premises in Dundee city and Perth and Kinross. They compared the results with a survey conducted in 1997.
In the 1997 survey, Dr Moseley found that the intensity of radiation from a sunbed was equivalent to being exposed to sunlight in British summertime. "What we found this time is that the skin cancer risk has increased significantly, by around 2.7 times. Now, being on a sunbed is comparable to being exposed to Mediterranean sun," he said.
Last year, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health said the provision of sunbeds in council-run leisure centres was akin to a "hospital providing cigarettes". More than 70,000 new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed each year in the UK, although because many are not reported, the real number is believed to be higher. Cases across the UK have more than doubled since the early 1980s, and the disease kills more than 2,000 people a year. Scotland has the highest number of sunbeds per head of population in the UK and cases of skin cancer have more than tripled in the past 30 years.
Dr Moseley, who is due to present his findings at the Society for Radiological Protection in London today, urged people to avoid sunbeds. "Exposing yourself to ultraviolet radiation is not a healthy thing to do. People should know that it carries a risk of skin cancer and I'd simply advise people not to use them," he said.
Sara Hiom, deputy director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK, said a licensing scheme for sunbeds would ensure that tanning salons met minimum health, safety and good practice guidelines.
"We would like to see strict guidelines clearly displayed wherever sunbed facilities are offered and think all sunbeds sold in the EU should display a warning statement," she said.
"We believe that people under 18 should never use sunbeds. As it is impossible to check ages at unmanned sunbed salons it would be better if those outlets with coin-operated sunbeds were closed down. While adults are free to make their own decisions about using sunbeds it is important that they should be fully informed of the risks involved."
