Sunbed focus of European public consultation

January 25, 2016

Key points of European public consultation

UV is a complete carcinogen, both as an initiator and a promoter
There is strong evidence that sunbed exposure causes skin melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma and, to a lesser extent, basal cell carcinoma, more especially when first exposure takes place in younger ages.
Sunbed use is responsible for a noticeable proportion of both melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers and for a large fraction of melanomas arising before the age of 30.
There is no need to use sunbeds to induce Vitamin D. On contrary, UV overexposure may even reduce the vitamin D level.

Consultation announcement

The European Commission and its Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) have launched a public consultation on the preliminary opinion on biological effects of ultraviolet radiation relevant to health with particular reference to sunbeds for cosmetic purposes. All interested parties are invited to submit written comments on the preliminary opinion by 21 March 2016

This opinion focuses on the risks associated with ultraviolet radiation (UVR) in general and with sunbeds in particular. It can be found here.

Based on the available scientific evidence, the SCENIHR concludes that UV is a complete carcinogen, both an initiator, and a promoter. There is strong evidence that sunbed exposure causes skin melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma and, to a lesser extent, basal cell carcinoma, more especially when first exposure takes place in younger ages. There is moderate evidence that sunbed exposure may also cause ocular melanoma. Sunbed use is responsible for a noticeable proportion of both melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers and for a large fraction of melanomas arising before the age of 30. The small potentially beneficial effects of sunbed use are more than outweighed by the many severe adverse effects. There is no need to use sunbeds to induce Vitamin D. On contrary, UV overexposure may even reduce the vitamin D level.

Because of evidence of the carcinogenic effects of sunbed exposure and of the nature of skin cancer induction (there are no indications for threshold levels of UV-irradiance and UV–dose), there is no safe limit for UV irradiance from sunbeds.

In line with the Stakeholder Dialogue Procedures (Annex IV to the Rules of Procedures of the Scientific Committees), Scientific Committees are now seeking feedback from the scientific community and stakeholders on this preliminary opinion.

All interested parties are invited to submit written comments on the preliminary opinion by 21 March 2016 in view of gathering specific comments, suggestions, explanations or contributions on the scientific basis of the opinion, as well as any other scientific information regarding the questions addressed, to enable Scientific Committees to focus on issues that need to be further investigated.

Source:

Public Consultation on the Preliminary Opinion on Biological effects of ultraviolet radiation relevant to health with particular reference to sunbeds for cosmetic purposes http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/c...