Experts conclude that sunbeds definitely cause cancer

U.S. News & World Report carries the "recommendation of the American Cancer Society that the use of tanning beds is dangerous to your health, and should be avoided."

UK Incidence of Malignant Melanoma Now Exceeds 10,000 Cases

BBC News reports that Cancer Research UK is warning people against 'binge tanning', as rates of malignant melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, continue to increase faster than any other cancer.

As weather forecasters predict a hot summer in Britain, Sara Hiom, Cancer Research UK's director of health information, says, "Most melanoma skin cancers are caused by over exposure to UV rays given off by the sun and sunbeds." People are advised to avoid getting burned in the sun, to cover up with clothing, to wear sunglasses and sunhats, and to apply high factor sunscreen.

Reminder: there is more and more research finding that certain groups of people are short of vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, so it would probably be best not to take avoidance of the sun too far. For example, see BBC News item

A schoolgirl, Kirsty McRae, suffered first degree burns over most of her body after only 19 minutes in an unmanned tanning salon.

Schoolgirl suffers first degree burns after 19 minutes in tanning salon
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Kirsty McRae, 14, ended up on a drip in hospital after suffering 70 per cent burns.

She had put £1 into the coin-operated sunbed at the walk-in salon, but after four minutes Kirsty felt she wasn't getting tanned enough so paid £3 for another 15 minutes.

She left the salon in pain and was rushed into hospital four hours later suffering from the horrific burns.

Doctors put her on a drip and administered oxygen while they rehydrated her.

Environmental health officers were on Thursday carrying out an investigation at the Laxtan salon in Barry, South Wales.

Kirsty's mother, Jill McRae, 49, admitted her daughter should not have been in the salon because she is under 16, but said there is nothing to stop young people from using them."

Children are to be banned from using sunbeds in tanning salons to reduce the risk of developing skin cancer.

Children banned from sunbeds to combat skin cancer risk
Article in the Sunday Telegraph

Extract:

"The measure follows concern that youngsters are damaging their health with their desire to look bronzed.

British children have the highest rate of skin cancer in Europe.

A report found that cases of melanoma - the worst type of skin cancer - had leapt four-fold in 20 years.

Although the trade body, The Sunbed Association (TSA), instructs members not to admit under-16s, a survey by Which? in April found that 170,000 children below the age of 16 use sunbeds, including some as young as eight.

Young people have a 75 per cent higher risk of developing fatal skin cancer if they use a sunbed, according to Cancer Research UK. The younger the user, the higher the risk."

Sun bed ban for under-18s is being considered to reduce cases of skin cancer.

Sun bed ban for under-18s to cut cancer

Extract from the Telegraph:

"Children under 18 may be banned from using sun beds in a move designed to reduce cases of skin cancer.

The Department of Health confirmed that ministers were considering proposals to introduce an age limit, along with tighter regulation of the sun bed industry.

Another proposal being considered is a ban on coin-operated tanning salons, which campaigners say lead to over-use.

About three million people regularly use sun beds, while malignant melanoma rates have risen to 8,000 a year. With 1,800 deaths annually, skin cancer is the most common form of the disease among people aged 15 to 34."

Sunbed users are increasing their risk of developing a life-threatening form of skin cancer by three-quarters

Cancer danger among young using sunbeds

Extract from the Telegraph:

"Sunbed users are increasing their risk of developing a life-threatening form of skin cancer by three-quarters, experts have warned.

A report has established that using sunbeds from an early age increases the risk of malignant melanoma by 75 per cent. It was released by Cancer Research UK as part of the SunSmart campaign, which will focus this year on the dangers of sunbeds.

It comes after the British Association of Dermatologists called for under-18s to be banned from using tanning beds and for tighter controls on unmanned and coin operated booths.

Skin cancer is the fastest rising cancer in Britain, with cases increasing by almost half in the last decade. Almost 9,000 cases of malignant melanoma are diagnosed in the UK annually and more than 1,800 die from the disease each year."

Many sunbeds emit dangerous levels of cancer-causing ultraviolet radiation.

Warning over the rising risk of sunbeds - Sunday Telegraph

Extract:

"Sunbed users are being warned that four out of five of the devices emit dangerous levels of cancer-causing ultraviolet radiation.

More than 80 per cent of sunbeds transmit UVB, the most damaging type of UV ray, at levels above European and British standards, a study has found. Researchers discovered a huge rise in sunbed use and a growing danger linked to the use of increasingly high-strength, stand-up booths and sunbeds.

The number of private sunbeds rose by 30 per cent from 1997 to 2005, according to the study in the British Journal of Dermatology.

The study, which compared the use of sunbeds in parts of Scotland in 1997 and 2005, showed a big increase in health risks. While the 1997 study showed the cancer risk to be equal to the UK summer sun, the average unit now carries the same risk as the midday Mediterranean sun.

Users were ignorant of the risks. Asked about the dangers of sunbeds, almost half did not cite skin cancer.

Last month, a mother of two children, died from skin cancer after using a sunbed twice a day for seven years. Zita Farrelly, from Salford, died at 29, three days after her daughter's first birthday."

Young mother dies of melanoma caused by use of sunbed

Mother dies after seven years of sunbed use - Telegraph

Extract:

"A young mother has died of skin cancer after using a sunbed twice a day for seven years.

Zita Farrelly, 29, died three days after her daughter's first birthday.

The mother-of-two, from Salford, Greater Manchester, started using sunbeds when she was 14. She gave them up seven years later but last August found a mole on her leg and was diagnosed with the skin cancer melanoma.

Doctors told her they believed her cancer was caused by the amount of time she spent on sunbeds. Despite chemotherapy she died nine months later. Her boyfriend and aunt are now warning others about the use of sunbeds.

Phil Burtwistle, who is caring for their children, Phebie, one, and seven-year-old Caldhan, said sunbeds had "destroyed the family's life"."