(BBC News) — France’s health watchdog says the risk of cancer from sunlamps and sunbeds is proven and authorities should act to stop people being exposed to artificial ultraviolet rays.
Brazil and Australia have already banned sunbeds commercially, and France is one of a number of countries that have already limited their use. But now the Anses watchdog says France should go further and impose a ban.
Sunbeds are linked to 43% of melanoma cases among France’s young, it says.
Although less common than other skin cancers, malignant melanoma is the major cause of death and more common among people with a pale complexion.
“Waiting is no longer an option,” says Olivier Merckel of Anses. “We know today that skin ageing is four times faster from artificial UV sessions than from the sun.”
France, in common with several countries including the UK and US, already has a ban on under-18s using tanning sunbeds, but the watchdog says that is not enough. (…)