YOUNG people who use sunbeds to get a tan increase their risk of developing melanoma by 41 per cent, a landmark Australian study has found.
The Australian Melanoma Family Study looked at the effects of sunbeds on 18- to 39-year-olds and found that 23 per cent of participants who had melanoma reported using the device.
“The dangers of using sunbeds are now well known, but there is a special message from this research for young people – avoid them completely,” said the study’s senior author Graham Mann.
Professor Mann, the Melanoma Institute Australia’s co-director of research, said: “Our findings indicate that sunbeds caused about three quarters of melanomas in sunbed users under the age of 30.”
The co-author of the research, University of Sydney Professor Bruce Armstrong, said sunbed users were much more likely to be female, tan easily, be exposed to more sun on summer holidays and live in less sunny regions.
“Participants who began using sunbeds before 20 years of age or reported more than 10 sunbed sessions during their life doubled their risk of melanoma,” Prof Armstrong said.
The findings are the result of a research collaboration between the University of Sydney, University of Melbourne and key cancer organisations across the country.
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