Scientists: ban sunbeds

Banning UK's sunbeds - 27th June 2022

Scientists in England believe a ban on sunbeds could save lives.

A team from The University of Manchester have been working with scientists in Australia - where sunbeds are already banned. They looked at the harm and costs linked with indoor tanning.

The research, published in the British Journal of Dermatology, implies there could be 1,200 fewer cases, and 200 fewer deaths, in the lifetimes of the 18-year-olds they projected the model on. By applying the same research model to England, researchers suggest it could save the NHS £700,000.

Professor Adele Green, an expert in health and disease from The University of Manchester said: "There's a lot of misunderstanding about sunbeds, such as it provides vitamin D and it gives protective tans, I'm afraid both of these are incorrect. What sunbed exposure does is bring on premature ageing and wrinkling of the skin, as well as eye problems and high risks of skin cancer."

Susanna Daniels, CEO of Melanoma Focus, says their advice is not to use sunbeds at all. "There's no such thing as a safe tan, particularly if you've got pale skin or lots of moles - we would advise not using them. Sunbeds give out greater doses of UV rays than the midday tropical sun and what these UV rays do is damage the DNA in your skin."

The Sunbed Association says it "utterly refutes" the claims made in the study.

Tanning is big business. The Sunbed Association estimates there are several thousand tanning salons across the UK. It denies claims that sunbeds should be banned in the UK.

"We utterly refute the mathematically theoretical claims made in this study, not least because it relies heavily on data from studies conducted outside of the UK where the sunbed industry is not as well-regulated as it is here," says Gary Lipman, chairman of The Sunbed Association.