Turning up the heat: How tanning beds might be to blame for skin cancer surge
As we approach Skin Cancer Awareness Month this May, the spotlight is on one of the key drivers behind the UK’s rising skin cancer rates: tanning beds.
Known as the 10-minute holiday, with a promise of a year-round golden tan, these devices are more popular than ever, but at what cost to public health?
In the UK, tanning beds have found a market in beauty salons and homes.
Recent studies suggest that a significant portion of the population, particularly those under 25, use tanning beds weekly.
The appeal of bronzed skin, often associated with vitality and health, contradicts the serious health risks involved.
The link between ultraviolet (UV) radiation from tanning beds and skin cancer, including deadly melanomas, is well-documented.
According to the World Health Organization, the risk of skin cancer increases by 75% when people start using tanning beds before the age of 30.
Professionals across the board are calling for a ban on the devices despite recent implementations of precautionary measures in the shops.
The British Skin Foundation reports a noticeable increase in skin cancer cases in recent years with the number of women increasing by over a quarter and number of men increasing by two fifths.
Freya Ross, employee at Glasgow based tanning salon HOT!, said: “I definitely think men come more year round whereas women come more in the summer and before their holidays”
Behind the statistics are real people with heart-wrenching stories. Many are battling severe health impacts, some fatal, as a direct consequence of excessive UV exposure.
As Skin Cancer Awareness Month kicks off, the UK has seen initiatives to regulate the use of tanning beds, including stricter controls over who can use them and mandatory health warnings.
Miss Ross explained the information given to customers prior to their first session. She said: “Before their first session we have a consultation to determine the customers skin type and what they can handle
“Customers are only allowed to increase their time by 2 minutes each session.”
Despite tanning beds newly implemented controls charities are calling on the government to update legislation to make warning signs mandatory.
Skin cancer UK chief executive, Gill Nuttall, said: “We’re asking government to update legislation and put warning signs into tanning salons – much like we have for cigarettes or alcohol.”
A spokesman for the department of health and social care, said: “The sunbed act prohibits people under 18 from using them, but we keep the act under constant review.”
