Regular sunbed use puts 40pc of women at risk from skin cancer
Tuesday July 22 2003
And some are so hooked on their sunbed tan that they visit the tanning salon every second day.
In their efforts to resemble bronzed celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Aniston, regular sunbed users are actually doing more harm than good to their looks, while also running the risk of developing skin cancer.
But the stars and models aren't putting their health at risk - most of them fake it.
"Ninety per cent of tanned models use fake tans. In fact, most supermodels are very pale as designers and photographers don't want them tanned," says Mags Humphries of Assets Model Agency.
Among the models at Assets, the tanning salon is a professional and health no-go area. "Sunbeds were more popular about 10 years ago, but a couple of our people have had scares. One male model's sister developed skin cancer on her leg after using sunbeds," says Ms Humphries.
With the prospect of wrinkled, sagging and blotchy skin from a sunbed, Assets' models use bottled fake tan to achieve a sun-kissed look.
Elaine Glynn, health promotion Officer with the Irish Cancer Society, says "our quest for a tan is image-based" and welcomes the return of pale icons to the media.
Ms Glynn finds it worrying that young women have the highest awareness of the dangers of sunbeds yet are still the principal users of them.
With the dangers of exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunbeds well-known but disregarded, the Irish Cancer Society believes many sunbed outlets do not provide customers or operators with sufficient information on the threat of skin cancer.
Despite one in 10 of the population being regular users, tanning salons are not regulated and are not under any obligation to inform customers of the dangers of sunbed use.
While medical advice continues to recommend the complete avoidance of sunbeds, the maximum time spent on a bed should not exceed 20 sessions of 30 minutes every year.
However, doctors say this is often disregarded, with twice weekly sessions of 45 minutes commonplace.
As part of its annual "SunSmart" campaign, the Irish Cancer Society commissioned research which found that 42pc of women in the 15-34 age group regularly use sunbeds, as opposed to 15pc of men.
The majority of sunbed users say they use them in order to get a "base tan" before going abroad on holidays, with many believing this will do less damage to their skin in the long run.
However, Dr Gillian Murphy, consultant dermatologist at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, dispels the myth that a "base tan" would "protect the skin from damage or enhance a tan gain from natural sunlight.
"Tanned skin is damaged skin, whether the tan is obtained through sunbed use or by sunbathing on the beach," she says.
"Sunbeds are designed to produce a tan mainly through UVA radiation. In the past, it was thought UVA was a safe form of radiation and that a sunbed tan was a safe tan. Now we know UVA radiation penetrates deep into the skin, damaging its supporting framework. And exposure to UVA has the potential to cause skin cancer."
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in Ireland, with over 5,500 cases diagnosed each year.
- Breda Heffernan
