Dermoterrorism Alert© : Tanning salons ignore safety

[Editor-in-Chief]

Tanning salons ignore safety
NO QUESTIONS: 17-year-old, fair-skinned model Karley French was rarely questioned about her age.


CANCER experts have slammed solarium operators who fail to warn consumers of the risks associated with artificial tanning.

The indoor tanning business is booming. Demand is particularly high from teenage girls seeking a bronzed look for school formals and Schoolies celebrations.

But an investigation by The Sunday Mail has found that some operators are failing to comply with the industry's voluntary code of conduct covering issues such as age of customers, access by people with very fair skin and the display of warning notices.

"We are alarmed that the solarium industry is failing to adhere to the Australian standards," said Queensland Cancer Fund manager of prevention and early detection Susan Greenbank.

"We do not encourage the use of solaria for cosmetic purposes but while they continue to be available to the public, the public needs to be fully informed about the potential dangers."

The code on solariums recommends no one under 15 should be allowed to use a sun-tanning unit and the Australian Standard says that anyone under 18 needs parental consent.

But when 17-year-old model Karley French approached six Brisbane solariums posing as a potential customer, only two asked her age.

Even when she volunteered her age and asked if it was OK to have the treatment, two failed to warn her that she would require parental permission.

The standard bans people with very fair skin from using solariums.

But only one of the businesses visited said that Karley would have to undergo a skin analysis before treatment even though she was specifically selected by her agency because of her light complexion.

Two others suggested she should begin with relatively short tanning sessions (six to eight minutes) and build up slowly.

Just one solarium had warning signs displayed advising customers of the potential risks involved, as required by the standard.

"The solarium industry has a responsibility to follow the Australian standards," said Ms Greenbank.

"As a starting point, health warning signs must be displayed at all premises and children should not be allowed in under any circumstances."

The Queensland Cancer Fund was particularly disturbed that one salon was breaching the guidelines prohibiting claims of health benefits from sun-tanning units.

A question-and-answer sheet handed to Karley claimed: "The gaining of a healthy suntan contributes in several other ways to your physical health and general wellbeing. In short, you look healthier and feel healthier because you are healthier."

Ms Greenbank said: "It is inconceivable that any solarium operator would promote their business to a child as a safe and healthy activity when the children are being exposed to the risk of deadly melanoma and other disfiguring skin cancers.

"There is no safe level of tanning. It is inherently dangerous and a sign the skin has been damaged by UV radiation."

The only one of the six solariums to prominently display warning signs was the Stafford Fitness Centre, where staff also immediately queried Karley's age and said she would need parental permission.

Instructor Sean Sexton told The Sunday Mail the centre took its safety obligations very seriously.

He said they were regularly approached by younger teenagers seeking tanning sessions and turned them away.

One mother recently tried to book in an 11-year-old child.

"It's just silly," said Mr Sexton. "I don't know what was going on in her head." A recent study of 30 solariums commissioned by the Cancer Council of Victoria found 52 per cent of 16-year-olds were able to gain access to solariums without parental consent and 90 per cent of very fair-skinned customers were allowed to use the equipment.


DARYL PASSMORE
21nov04 © Queensland Newspapers


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