Under-18s ‘face sunbed ban’

Many teenagers could be banned from using sunbeds if new proposals from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to limit their use to people aged over-18 are approved, reports say.

According to the BBC, the Department of Health asked the HSE to review its sunbed guidance as part of its 2007 Cancer Reform Strategy.

The move comes after a recent report from Which? magazine said that an estimated 170,000 people aged under 16 had used a sunbed.

The corporation says more than 100 skin cancer deaths a year are linked to the use of sunbeds.

However, while industry group the Sunbed Association (TSA) says it supports “good practice” for tanning salons and a ban on under-16s, it is “not aware of any medical or scientific evidence” to extend the ban any further.

The organisation also states that studies indicate there is “no link” between indoor tanning and melanoma.

Yet the BBC cites “recent research” that found people aged under 35 who use sunbeds could be “75 per cent more likely” to develop malignant melanoma.

Furthermore, it says, both the World Health Organisation and the European Union have said under-18s should never use sunbeds.

According to figures from TSA, over three million people in the UK use sunbeds every year.