Nurses call for sunbed laws

Salons offering sunbed treatments should be licensed and subject to routine inspections, nurses urged today.

Sunbed users are twice as likely to develop skin cancer as the rest of the population but there are no guidelines about how much exposure is dangerous.

Delegates meeting at the annual congress of the Royal College of Nursing in Harrogate today will call on the Government to regulate the industry by licensing salons.

Natalie Tidy, a cancer research nurse and member of the RCN's dermatology nursing forum, said: "These treatments are sold as a safe way to build up your tan before you go on holiday but that is like saying, 'Come and radiate your skin here, then go and radiate it some more.' It will all cause damage."

She added: "I went into several clinics under cover and got very conflicting advice.

"One of them told me it would be fine for me to use the sunbed every day, even though guidance from the Health and Safety Executive is not to have more than 20 sessions a year."

There has been a 30 per cent rise in the incidence of skin cancer since 1970 and recent American research suggested sunbed users were 2.5 times more likely to develop some form of the disease. Around 46,000 cases are diagnosed in the UK annually and it claims about 2,000 lives each year.

Ms Tidy, who works in Preston, added: "What we are really asking for is a recognition that regulation is needed, along with a system to make sure people receive unbiased and consistent information before they make choices about using sunbeds."

Most sunbeds give off UVA light, which is considered less harmful than UVB. However, some give off both and there is a growing body of evidence linking UVA with skin cancer.

Members of the Sunbed Association, which represents around 1,300 operators, are supposed to follow a code of practice. However, a spokeswoman said that "cowboys" within the industry did not abide by the code.

Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK, said: "We do not recommend any use of sunbeds but there are certain categories of people who should never use them."

The under-16s, people who have had skin cancer or with a family history of the disease, those with a lot of moles and the very fair-skinned should not use tanning machines, she said, adding: "That kind of information probably is displayed in the bona fide salons, although not always prominently."

The RCN is calling for local authorities to introduce a mandatory code of practice and carry out inspections.