THE DEPARTMENT of Health is set to review planned legislation on restricting the use of sunbeds following the publication of a study that puts the devices in the World Health Organisation’s highest cancer risk category.
The study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the WHO, has ruled that tanning beds and other methods of UV radiation be moved to the top cancer risk category alongside tobacco, asbestos and arsenic.
Published in the Lancet Oncology medical journal, the report recommended that the use of UV sunbeds be classified as “carcinogenic to humans”. It had previously been classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans”.
According to the report the risk of skin melanoma increased by 75 per cent among people who begin using the devices under the age of 30.
The Irish Cancer Society has called on the Government to ban the use of sunbeds for those under 18. “This study is really just confirming a lot of what we already know: that sunbeds carry a major risk,” health promotion manager Norma Cronin said.
The organisation is also calling for comprehensive legislation governing the operation of sunbeds including a mandatory health warning and a consent form outlining the risks.
Larry Whelan, owner and managing director of Tan Sun Ireland, said risks surrounding sunbeds regard the “abuse of” rather than the “use of” the devices, which he says are safe when operated “under controlled conditions with trained staff”.
He claimed current legislation prohibiting the use of sunbeds for children under 16 was adequate and that the legal age should not be raised to 18 in keeping with the position of the Sunbed Association.
A spokewoman for the Department of Health and Children said that legislation surrounding the use of sunbeds, including the banning of under 18s, was already being considered. She added that the department “will review the position in the light of the . . . assessment of the risk”.
Ms Cronin said evidence suggested just 10 minutes daily exposure to natural sunlight throughout the year provided a healthy level of Vitamin D. The Irish Cancer Society’s advice was to “avoid sunbeds altogether”.