This disease is now twice as common in young people as it was 20 years ago, as the desire for a golden tan has led teenagers to sunbathe more on beaches and to use tanning salons between holidays to top up. As the skin is known to be particularly susceptible to long-term damage during childhood and puberty, this is a high risk age bracket. Especially given the fact that most teenagers do not understand the term: moderation!

At Tanmad, we are completely in support of these new moves, having always actively discouraged the use of sunbeds by under-16’s.

At the end of March, The Sunbed Association, which represents around a quarter of all sunbed operators in the UK, will meet skin cancer experts to discuss stricter self-regulation in the wake of mounting concern about the health risks.

The charity Cancer Research UK is also calling for a ban on all unstaffed coin-operated sunbeds, to keep a register of salons and to get them to give more health advice. There is concern that rogue operators are allowing children to use the beds and turning a blind eye to customers with fair, freckly skin, who are more at risk from melanoma than darker-skinned people.

The number of British malignant melanoma cases has increased by 24 per cent between 1995 and 2000 – and is particularly common amongst those who began using sun beds at an early age. Around 7,000 are diagnosed each year, resulting in around 1,700 deaths from the disease. It used to be thought that it was the UVB rays, which cause sunburn, that caused the cancer but scientists are now focusing more on the role of UVA rays. Most sun creams protect against UVB but not always UVA, the type of sun radiation that occurs even on cloudy days – so do protect yourself wisely. See our article on SPF creams above for more information.