According to the latest research, tanning sun beds can deliver wildly different doses of UV radiation, with some exposing users to levels up to six times the strength of the midday sun. Worst part of it that most users are unaware of this say experts. An audit of beds in Sydney and Melbourne found some deliver twice the dose of radiation as others classed in lower categories. The audits took place in Victoria and NSW.
According to study leader, Peter Gies, the variability would make predicting the effects difficult. Some operators had a “seat of the pants” feel for the dose emitted. In Australia sunbeds are classed according to how long a user would need to obtain sufficient ultraviolet radiation for a tan.
The audit noted that in one business there were three eight-minute sun beds with UV indexes of 31.3, 40.7 and 48.6, while the 10-minute sun bed measured 20.6. The measurements from the 20 beds in the study were eventually used to downgrade the maximum allowable dose from a UV index of 60 to 36. In Europe the maximum is 12, but solarium operators felt it would be too expensive to comply with lower doses, said Dr Gies, a senior research scientist at the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency.
The chairman of Cancer Council Australia's Skin Cancer Committee, Terry Slevin, said states and territories needed to better regulate solariums. “There is currently no restriction that prevents solariums from emitting UV radiation six times stronger than the midday sun,” he said. Cancer Council CEO, Prof Ian Olver said, “Australians are putting their lives at risk when using a solarium.”
Fiona Gamble, who runs Soleil Tanning in Darlinghurst, said some of her clients worried about health risks.
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