'Risk of skin cancer increased by 75%' - Government proposes ban on sunbed use across Ireland

The Sunbed Association, which represents regulated sunbed businesses across Ireland, has called on the Government not to impose a nationwide ban on sunbeds, believing it will lead to unsafe and unregulated conditions.

Minister of State for Public Health Jennifer Murnane O'Connor has said that no level of sunbed us is safe, a statement that has been backed up by the Chief Medical Officer of Ireland.

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Speaking on Newstalk on Tuesday morning, the chair of the Association Gary Lipman said that he does not agree with the findings within the report which he said "informed the Minister and Chief Medical Officer's opinion".

"We have submitted a 58-page rebuttal for some of the misinformation that's in the report," Mr Lipman said before adding, "They're looking at scientific evidence from 20 to 25 years ago.

"It's very important that to those who say we need to ban sunbeds, we say to the HSE, work in harmony with us to implement existing regulations, as happens across Europe.

Mr Lipman went on to say the regulations across Europe state that the output of a sunbed is the same as the sunshine on a Mediterranean beach, for example and that the Association had asked the Government in 2015 to implement the same regulations.

Mr Lipman said there is "empirical evidence" from other countries such as Australia that show a ban on sunbeds are not only ineffective, but harmful, as people started using sunbeds at home where there are zero regulations.

"Look," continued Mr Lipman, "when a member of the public comes into a tanning salon in membership of the association, the staff there would have been trained.

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"They would speak to the client, check their skin to make sure that they can tan, we would provide protective eyewear, we would also check for age and give the correct information.

Mr Lipman added that members of the association would also enforce session lengths that would be in line with the correct and up-to-date medical advice.

Public health information on the HSE website states that skin cancer is the most common cause of cancer in Ireland. Figures indicate that there are approximately 8000 cases of non-melanoma skin cancer every year and 800 cases of malignant melanoma. However, the good news is that skin cancer is a highly preventable form of cancer.

Surveys undertaken by the Environmental Health Association of Ireland and the Irish Cancer Society have demonstrated that 7% of the population use sunbeds with 3% using them as frequently as once a week. International research documented in Standards Australia 2002 show that sunbeds can emit Ultraviolet Radiation (UV) radiation up to 5 times as strong as the Australian midday sun and therefore their use can substantially increase the risk of developing skin cancer.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has concluded that the risk of cutaneous melanoma is increased by 75% when the use of tanning beds starts before 30 years of age. It subsequently raised the classification of the use of UV tanning devices to Group 1 - namely, 'carcinogenic to humans'.

The Public Health (Sunbeds) Act 2014, (No. 12 of 2014) which was signed into law on 24 June 2014, states that,

• No persons under the age of 18 years of age will be allowed to use a sunbed on a sunbed premises
• No persons under the age of 18 years will be permitted entry into a restricted area in a sunbed premises
• No person under the age of 18 years of age will be allowed to either purchase or hire a sunbed

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• The owner, manager or employee of a sunbed business must ensure that any person using, hiring or purchasing a sunbed is 18 years of age and over and has valid identification to prove this
• Prohibition of unsupervised use of a sunbed
• Notification of sunbed businesses to the HSE
• Prohibition of certain marketing practices, such as 'happy hour' or free sunbed time
• Provision of health information by operators for all users of sunbed premises
• Provision of warning signs by operators
• Provision of protective eyewear for all sunbed users