9/10 English Sunbeds fail safety limits

[Fred]

This report from The British Journal of Dermatology shows nine out of ten sunbeds surveyed in England emitted levels of UV radiation that exceed the maximum levels contained within the European standard.

Background: 
Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight is recognized as the principal cause of skin cancer. Moreover, sunbeds have been classified as carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Despite this, there is a shortage of objective data on UV exposure levels in sunbeds in England.

Objectives: 
We set out to measure UV emission levels in sunbeds at sites around England, and to compare these levels with both current standards and natural sunlight.

Methods: 
Between October 2010 and February 2011, UV spectra were measured on site from a total of 402 artificial tanning units in England. Measurement instrumentation was calibrated, traceable to the National Physical Laboratory. Compliance with the relevant British and European standard was determined, and a skin-cancer weighting factor was used to compare the carcinogenic potential of sunbeds with that of sunlight.

Results: 
For compliance with the European standard, erythemal-effective irradiance should not exceed 0·3 W m−2. The values that we measured ranged between 0·10 and 1·32 W m−2 with a mean of 0·56 ± 0·21 W m−2. Only 10% of sunbeds surveyed were within the recommended limit. Application of the skin-cancer weighting factor produced values that varied from 0·17 to 2·52 W m−2 with a mean of 0·99 ± 0·41 W m−2. The comparable value for Mediterranean noonday sun was 0·43 W m−2.

Conclusions: 
Nine out of 10 sunbeds surveyed throughout England emitted levels of UV radiation that exceed the maximum levels contained within the European standard. Moreover, the skin cancer risk for comparable times of exposure was up to six times higher than that for Mediterranean sunlight. This situation is unacceptable and stricter control measures must be put in place.

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com

[Caroline]

Recently on TV over here was an item on sun beds that was claiming that sun beds had much less intensity and were much healthier for your skin than the sun.


..... Of course it was supporter by a producer of sun beds.

[Fred]

Recently on TV over here was an item on sun beds that was claiming that sun beds had much less intensity and were much healthier for your skin than the sun.


..... Of course it was supporter by a producer of sun beds.

You mean companies would try to cheat

[Caroline]

Recently on TV over here was an item on sun beds that was claiming that sun beds had much less intensity and were much healthier for your skin than the sun.


..... Of course it was supporter by a producer of sun beds.

You mean companies would try to cheat

I did not say that , but it is clear that it is difficult to have an objective opinion if you are "in the business".
Which is the same with "the industry" around psoriasis. The goal of the treatments should be to help patients, but sometimes I have the idea that the only goal is to earn money on non working approaches.
Or am I being too negative?

[Fred]

Which is the same with "the industry" around psoriasis. The goal of the treatments should be to help patients, but sometimes I  have the idea that the only goal is to earn money on non working approaches.
Or am I being too negative?

No you're not being too negative, research is useless if commissioned by the industry involved with the product

Which reminds me of one of my old threads. Should Drug Manufacturers run help websites for psoriasis?