Sunbeds as dangerous as smoking

SUNBED use in Ireland must be regulated after new research found the cancer risk is as great as smoking, the Irish Cancer Society has warned.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said sunbeds should be moved into the highest cancer risk category and after its latest study found they are “‘carcinogenic to humans”.

The study by the IARC found the cancer risk from tanning machines was greatest in children and young adults. The research was published in the latest issue of the Lancet.

“The risk of skin melanoma is increased by 75% when use of tanning devices starts before 30 years of age,” the report said.

The cancer risk is greater for younger people because their skin is more sensitive to the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation from sunbeds. The research also found there was an increased risk of developing eye cancer among people who use sunbeds.

Previously, sunbeds have been classified by the agency as “probably carcinogenic to humans”.

The Irish Cancer Society’s health promotion manager, Norma Cronin, said the society had been concerned about unregulated sunbed use for years.

Two years ago the society found that over a third of sunbed users in Ireland were under 19 years when they first used a sunbed.

“People are putting their lives in danger as they are not aware of the serious skin cancer risk associated with sunbeds,” she said.

Last year the society was among other interested parties invited by the Department of Health to join the public consultation process on the introduction of legislation banning sunbed use by people under 18 years.

Ms Cronin said the society was disappointed that the introduction of the legislation was taking so long.

Over the next 20 years, the number of skin cancers among women is expected to increase by 124% while the number of skin cancers among men is expected to increase by 184%, according to the National Cancer Registry of Ireland.

Malignant melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer and there has been an 84% increase in the number of cases in melanoma and a 48% increase in women over the past 10 years.