Cancer victim hails sunbed crackdown
Law to take effect by year’s end brings in bans and restrictions for salon users
A survivor of melanoma believed to be linked to sunbed use has praised a move to tighten controls on operators and ban under 18- year- olds from using sunbeds.
Kathryn Wilson, 42, has been treated for the most deadly form of skin cancer, malignant melanoma, and strongly suspects her disease was caused by a sunbed.
‘‘ I can’t prove it, but about 10 years before being diagnosed, I went to a sunbed at a hairdresser. I stayed in there for 25 minutes and was severely burned.’’
She was swollen all over her body and had blisters everywhere, and later complained to the salon, the Tauranga woman said.
She noticed blood on her bed sheet three years ago and was diagnosed with melanoma on her back and in lymph nodes under her right arm. She had not noticed an ulcerated lesion on her back.
In 2010, she had surgery to remove the affected lymph nodes and an 18cm- long, 3cm- wide section of skin and tissue on her back.
Mrs Wilson needs regular checks, but has no sign of cancer now.
A law banning those under 18 from using sunbeds and restricting fairskinned people from using them will be in place by the end of the year.
The Government has decided to include parts of MP Paul Hutchison’s private member’s bill in amendments it will make to the Health Act.
Details on how the ban will be enforced are still being worked out by the Ministry of Health.
Dr Hutchison said it was ‘‘ good’’ his bill would make progress, and not wait to be drawn in the private members’ ballot system.
He did not know how the fairness of skin would be assessed. ‘‘ Highly fair- skinned people . . . that are ginger- haired and freckled are likely to be more prone to problems, so that within the standards it would require very strict modulation of informed consent, and if someone said they don’t give a stuff, ‘ I want this done’, then they would be required to give lesser doses for lesser periods of time. ‘‘ That is yet to be worked out.’’ Dr Hutchison said the new rules would help to prevent avoidable harm from ultraviolet ( UV) radiation through the use of solaria, sunlamps, sunbeds or tanning units, by placing restrictions on the quantity of UV light used and restricting who could use the devices.
At present, a voluntary code calls for no use for under 18- year- olds and exclusion of people with pale skin who always burn.
Surveys by Consumer NZof sunbed operators have shown there is a high level of non- compliance.
Dr Hutchison said operators who broke the rules could be prosecuted.
Indoor Tanning Association chairwoman Kirsty Ethynes said the ban would not impact on good operators.
‘‘ Good operators will already be following the voluntary standards, and that’s in line with the standards.’’
Ms Ethynes said she was concerned by the use of a World Health Organisation statistic that the risk of skin cancer increased 75 per cent if a sunbed was used.
‘‘ It’s very misleading. That’s a relative risk compared to everybody else — it’s not an absolute’’.
The owner of Sunset Tan in Mt Eden, Matt Adams, said the change was a good move, but could force teenagers to be more reckless.
‘‘ If they desire to have a tan, they’ve got two ways to do it: they can either do it in a controlled environment under the supervision of an expert, or they’ll go out into the sun and cover themselves in baby oil and burn themselves to a cinder.
‘‘ I’m in support [ of the tighter controls] because it will weed out some of the poor operators who don’t seem to have much care or concern for their clients.’’
But Mr Adams said a blanket restriction wouldn’t achieve anything.
A Ministry of Health survey released this week showed the number of sunbed operators in Auckland had almost halved in the past four years — dropping from 73 to 39.
Sunbed use has been associated with skin burns, premature ageing, corneal burns, cataracts, ocular melanoma and photo dermatitis.