SunSmart shame: alarming results of sunbed survey

A Green Party survey of sunbed operations in the Wellington region has found that most are flouting industry standards and many are exposing young girls to serious health risks.

Nearly half of the clinics surveyed have no minimum age limit for customers and allow under 15 year olds to use their tanning facilities, despite industry guidelines stipulating that under 15 year olds should never use sunbeds, and under 18 year olds only with parental approval.

Studies by The International Agency for Research on Cancer show that the risk of developing melanoma increased by 75 percent among those who had first used a solarium in their teens or twenties.

Green Party Health spokesperson Sue Kedgley said the results were particularly concerning coming as they did at the end of SunSmart week, and showed an urgent need for industry regulation.

“These results show the urgent need for the new Minister of Health to regulate the sunbed industry,” Ms Kedgley says.

“It is completely unacceptable for professionals to expose children to UV rays up to five times the strength of the midday summer sun."

Ms Kedgley said the survey also revealed that in some instances clinics are using safety information that the New Zealand Cancer Society says is ‘dangerous and misleading’.

“The information some of these outfits are basing their practice on is completely incorrect, which raises more ethical and legal issues,” Ms Kedgley says.

One clinic gets its safety information from a website which says: “There actually have been no statistically significant connections found between moderate indoor tanning and increased melanoma risk”.

“This sort of information is simply wrong, and encourages the perception many young girls have that sunbeds are a safe way to get a tan. Many young girls are completely unaware that they may be increasing their melanoma risk by 75 percent.

“It’s not just back-alley businesses who are in question here. Some of the worst results came from big name gyms.”