A new study has found that as many as 170,000 new cases of two forms of non-melanoma skin cancer directly linked to the use of indoor sunbeds. Many of the victims are under the age of 30 when they are diagnosed.
Researchers at the University of California concluded that regular tanning bed users under the age of 25 were 67% more likely to develop squalmos cell carcinoma and 29% were more likely to develop basa cell carcinoma than people who avoided tanning beds altogether.
The risk are highest amount younger women even though these skin cancers are more commonly associated with women at a more advanced age. Sunbeds, numbering in the millions across Europe are used mostly by younger women. For short or longer periods of time, artificial sunbeds will expose bare skin to high amounts of ultraviolet let, eventually developing a skin tone which gives the illusion they have been soaking in a warm (and nearly just as dangerous) sunlight. These two forms of Cancer affect the upper layers of skin and typically aren’t life threatening, especially when diagnosed early but they can be life-altering. Many, who develop these forms of Cancer are first to undergo surgery to remove lesions or other skin abnormalities that develop from these Cancers. These surgeries can often leave victims scarred.
In Ireland, over the last three years efforts have been made to increase consumer awareness to the dangers posed by frequent sunbed use, especially in relation to elevated risk of skin cancer. Sunbed use by under eighteens in the North of Ireland has now been banned and similar legislation of BMG is being considered here.
