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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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Cancer risk on tanning beds now top of list
Source: Agencies |
July 30, 2009, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
INTERNATIONAL experts have moved tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation into the top cancer risk category, deeming them as deadly as arsenic and mustard gas.
For years, scientists have described tanning beds and ultraviolet radiation as "probable carcinogens."
A new analysis of about 20 studies concludes the risk of skin cancer jumps by 75 percent when people start using tanning beds before age 30.
Experts also found that all types of ultraviolet radiation caused mutations in mice, proof the radiation is carcinogenic. Previously, only one type of ultraviolet radiation was thought to be lethal.
The new classification means tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation are definite causes of cancer, alongside tobacco, the hepatitis B virus and chimney sweeping, among others.
The research was published online in the medical journal Lancet Oncology yesterday, by experts at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization.
"People need to be reminded of the risks of sun beds," said Vincent Cogliano, one of the cancer researchers.
"We hope the prevailing culture will change so teens don't think they need to use sun beds to get a tan."
Most lights used in tanning beds give off mainly ultraviolet radiation, which causes skin and eye cancer, according to the agency.
The classification of tanning beds as carcinogenic was disputed by Kathy Banks, chief executive of The Sunbed Association, a European trade association of tanning bed makers and operators.
"The fact that is continuously ignored is that there is no proven link between the responsible use of sun beds and skin cancer," Banks said in a statement. She said most users of tanning beds used them less than 20 times a year.
But as the use of tanning beds has increased among people under 30, doctors have seen a parallel rise in the numbers of young people with skin cancer.
In Britain, melanoma, the deadliest kind of skin cancer, is now the leading cancer diagnosed in women in their 20s. Normally, skin cancer rates are highest in people over 75.
Previous studies found younger people who regularly use tanning beds are eight times more likely to get melanoma than people who have never used them. In the past, WHO warned people younger than 18 to stay away from tanning beds.
Cogliano said ultravoilet radiation was not healthy, from a tanning bed or the sun.
For years, scientists have described tanning beds and ultraviolet radiation as "probable carcinogens."
A new analysis of about 20 studies concludes the risk of skin cancer jumps by 75 percent when people start using tanning beds before age 30.
Experts also found that all types of ultraviolet radiation caused mutations in mice, proof the radiation is carcinogenic. Previously, only one type of ultraviolet radiation was thought to be lethal.
The new classification means tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation are definite causes of cancer, alongside tobacco, the hepatitis B virus and chimney sweeping, among others.
The research was published online in the medical journal Lancet Oncology yesterday, by experts at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization.
"People need to be reminded of the risks of sun beds," said Vincent Cogliano, one of the cancer researchers.
"We hope the prevailing culture will change so teens don't think they need to use sun beds to get a tan."
Most lights used in tanning beds give off mainly ultraviolet radiation, which causes skin and eye cancer, according to the agency.
The classification of tanning beds as carcinogenic was disputed by Kathy Banks, chief executive of The Sunbed Association, a European trade association of tanning bed makers and operators.
"The fact that is continuously ignored is that there is no proven link between the responsible use of sun beds and skin cancer," Banks said in a statement. She said most users of tanning beds used them less than 20 times a year.
But as the use of tanning beds has increased among people under 30, doctors have seen a parallel rise in the numbers of young people with skin cancer.
In Britain, melanoma, the deadliest kind of skin cancer, is now the leading cancer diagnosed in women in their 20s. Normally, skin cancer rates are highest in people over 75.
Previous studies found younger people who regularly use tanning beds are eight times more likely to get melanoma than people who have never used them. In the past, WHO warned people younger than 18 to stay away from tanning beds.
Cogliano said ultravoilet radiation was not healthy, from a tanning bed or the sun.
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