A new law will come in to effect in Scotland this week preventing under 18s using sunbeds.
According to the BBC, the Public Health Act will see an end to unmanned, coin operated tanning salons and a ban on the sale or hire of sunbeds to those under 18, with fines handed out for those caught flouting the law.
This comes on the back of statistics stating that skin cancer rates have quadrupled over the past 30 years.
Cancer Research UK are delighted with the ruling and are now lobbying for further legislation to cover the rest of the UK.
Sarah Woolnough, head of Policy at Cancer Research stated that “…sunbeds [are] now classified in the highest risk category for cancer” and that there is “…strong scientific evidence to show the damage that they are causing to skin- both increasing skin cancer risk and ageing the skin.”
This has been an area of considerable controversy, with unmanned tanning salons often failing to adequately warn young users of the dangers of over exposure to the UV rays. This has led to a considerable number of users suffering burns and exposing themselves to the possibility suffering with cancer. However, this legislation is undoubtedly a positive step in the right direction and lays down a marker for the rest of the UK to follow.
The rest of the UK currently adhere to the Code of Practice of prescribed performance and safety levels provided for by The Sunbed Association (or TSA). You might think such a code provides a comprehensive guideline to sunbed use, however, membership of the TSA is only on a voluntary basis so there is no actual requirement on salon operators to conform to these standards. As a consequence, individuals are still suffering burn injuries on unmanned and faulty machines and until comprehensive legislation is in place UK wide the risk of such injuries will still be high.
