Fight against skin cancer: EU mulls crackdown on sunbeds

Brussels – Lamps, solariums, and above all, sunbeds: when it is no longer beach season or holidays are not possible, but there is a desire for a tan, there are plenty of options. What is lacking, however, is a clear, complete, and up-to-date picture of what exposing oneself to ultraviolet rays means for one’s health, and the European Commission intends to see this through in the name of the fight against skin cancer and prevention.

Within the European Union, there is a growing problem of skin cancer linked to the increasing use of tanning salons. The extent of the phenomenon is offered by Eleonora Meleti, a Greek MEP from the EPP, in her question to the European Commission. She denounces that each year, over 150,000 new cases of melanoma are recorded in Europe, with young women disproportionately affected. The use of artificial sun tanning devices before the age of 35 increases the risk of melanoma by 59 percent,” denounces the MEP. More than 97 percent of women diagnosed with melanoma before the age of 30 had a history of sunbed use. 

There is more. Complicit in a social model that promotes and celebrates beauty in all its possible forms, including tanning, the use of sun lamps and sunbeds, “remains popular, especially among teenage girls,” Meleti warns, inviting the EU executive to intervene where it can, since health is of national competence. 
 The EU executive is actually already working on it, recalls Health Commissioner Oliver Vàrhelyi. In the European plan to fight cancer, the Commission indicated that it would explore measures on ultraviolet exposure, including from sunbeds. Well, the Commissioner clarifies, the work done so far has made it clear that more testing and further investigation is needed: “More information is needed on the effectiveness of preventive and mitigation measures to understand how additional policy recommendations could lead to a better protection from health risks associated with the use of sunbeds, going beyond the Low Voltage Directive,” the current rules on exposure to electrical devices.

The European Commission is essentially considering changing and updating the rules on tanning salons in the name of fighting cancer and preventing skin tumors. There are no details on the timeframe for a possible crackdown, but in Brussels, work is in progress for a tan that is both safe and healthy.