Undercover shopper survey shows under 18 sunbed ban is working

Evidence that illegal promotions are still happening 
 The new law that bans under-18s from using sunbeds appears to be working, says the Irish Cancer Society. The charity has welcomed the findings from an undercover survey of tanning salons it carried out in the Dublin region during March. All salons surveyed told the fair skinned 17 year old girl making enquiries on behalf of the Irish Cancer Society that she couldn’t use a sunbed, because of the under 18 ban brought in last July 2014. The Society says that this will make a real difference to skin cancer rates in the future.
 Kathleen O’Meara, Head of Advocacy and Communications at the Society said, “We are working towards a future without cancer and measures that prevent people from engaging in activities that substantially increase their cancer risk, such as sunbed use, will really help us achieve this vision.”
 The undercover shopper survey, which involved well-known chains, showed:

• All 5 of the tanning salons surveyed advised the 17 year old girl she could not use a sunbed because of the under 18 ban;
• In 4 out of the 5 salons the fair skinned girl was advised that in order to build up a tan she would need to use a sunbed for 4-5 minutes three times a week;
• One salon advised the girl that darker skin types could tan for a maximum of 15 minutes per session and encouraged the use of a tan accelerator;
• Two of the salons had price based promotions for discounted minutes i.e. 30% discount before 2pm; loyalty card schemes; 50% discount for a session card. The second phase of the Public Health Sunbeds Act 2014, introduced in March 2015 made reduced price promotions which encourage sunbed use illegal. 
• One salon advised her not to use sunbeds at all because of her fair skin; 
• This survey was carried out in March in Dublin city centre and the girl was seeking advice on building up a tan for a wedding in June. 

Kathleen O’Meara said “The Society is concerned that tanning salons are still using discounted deals and price based marketing practices encouraging sunbed use, which has been illegal since March. As well, alarmingly, one salon advised the fair skinned girl to increase her sunbed use to 8-9 minutes per session, and encouraged the use of a tan accelerator. While we appreciate it will take some time for the second phase of the legislation to take effect we urge Government to ensure that tanning salons are fully compliant with all elements of the sunbed legislation.”

“We now know that the risk of melanoma (the deadliest form of skin cancer) from any sunbed use is 20%, and this increases to 59% if the person was under 35 when they used sunbeds1.  “The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has placed sunbeds in the highest cancer risk category. This means that sunbed use is as carcinogenic as tobacco or plutonium. We would advise all people not to use sunbeds at all. People with the fairest skin types are twice as likely to get skin cancer, and up to 75% of Irish people fall into this category. It is very positive that one salon advised our secret shopper against using a sunbed at all, due to her fair skin type, and it is important that salon operators are aware of, and trained in, the particular dangers of sunbeds to fair skinned people.” “The most advanced countries in the fight against skin cancer are now banning sunbeds entirely – there is a total ban in Brazil, and a majority of states in Australia have banned commercial sunbeds. Given our rising skin cancer rates and our fair skinned population the Government should be considering a total ban on commercial sunbed use.” More information can be found on www.cancer.ie or http://health.gov.ie/healthy-ireland/sunbeds/