Solarium Ban For Under-18s And Fair-skinned People, New South Wales, Australia

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Main Category: Dermatology
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Cancer / Oncology;  Public Health
Article Date: 11 Apr 2008 - 13:00 PDT

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As from January, 2009, people with fair skin and those under the age of 18 will not be allowed to use solariums in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, the NSW Government has announced. The NSW Government stressed that this legislation will become enforceable on January 1st, regardless of what is decided at a national level.

Associations, such as the AMA (Australian Medical Association) said the State Government should have acted more swiftly, after South Australia and Victoria brought in their own regulations.

The Hon. Verity Firth, of the Parliament of NSW, stressed that NSW will have a comprehensive set of regulations in place for the solarium industry by the end of this year. Coin-operated sunbeds will also be banned.

According to research carried out by the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR), teenagers in NSW use solariums more than any other age-group - approximately 12% of them. The study also revealed that a person who is a regular solarium user and is under 35 raises his/her risk of developing melanoma by 98%, compared to a person who never uses one.

Apparently, the solarium industry in Australia has boomed. Since 1992 it has grown fourfold.

The QIMR's study, which was commissioned by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety agency, and conducted by Dr. Louisa Gordon and Mr. Nicholas Hirst, found that solarium use is no safer than tanning on the beach. Researchers commented that ultra violet radiation (UVR) in Australia is such that it even in winter its level of UVR exceed those of European countries in the summer. UVR causes damage at cellular level - solaria are a source of both UVA and UVB.

Australia has the highest rates in the world of skin cancer.

Tanning no safer in the solarium than on the beach (QIMR)

Written by - Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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