27/03/2009 - Ban on sunbed use by children urged
MPs are calling for a ban of the use of sunbeds by children after research showed they increase the risk of skin cancer in young people by 75%.
Unsupervised tanning salons should also be forbidden as they lead children to endanger their health in a bid to emulate bronzed celebrities, according to Labour's Sian James.
Automatic, coin-operated tanning salons costing just 25p a minute have become increasingly popular, with often no means of preventing schoolchildren from using them.
Studies by Cancer Research UK show these sunbeds can raise the risk of malignant melanoma in young people by 75%.
With cross-party support for her Commons motion, Ms James said both the World Health Organisation and the European Union had said under-18s should not use sunbeds.
She called on ministers to "prohibit use of sunbeds by under 18-year-olds, provide evidence-based health information in sunbed salons and prohibit unsupervised sunbed salons".
Last year, the Scottish Parliament passed a law which banned under-18s from using sunbeds, outlawed unstaffed tanning salons which are coin-operated, and made the sale or hiring of a sunbed illegal to anyone under 18.
Copyright © Press Association 2009
Related links
|
