Sunbeds And UV Classed As Definitely Cancer-Causing

Jim Liebelt Jim Liebelt's Blog
Updated Jul 30, 2009

According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, tanning beds have just made the list of highest cancer-causing risks, joining other notorious agents such as tobacco, asbestos and benzene. Parents should pointedly help teens "just say no" to tanning.

Global health experts have moved use of sunbeds and exposure to ultraviolet radiation (including sun exposure) to the highest risk category for causing cancer: they now join agents such as tobacco, asbestos and benzene in being classed as "carcinogenic to humans" whereas before they were classed as "probably carcinogenic".

The move follows a new report reviewing available research that found that starting to use sunbeds before the age of 30 increased a person's risk of developing the deadliest form of skin cancer (melanoma) by 75 per cent. Other agents have also been moved to the highest risk category following the report.

The findings that led to the decision by the World Health Organization (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to reclassify the cancer risk of sunbeds, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and other agents, are published in a Special Report in the August issue of The Lancet Oncology.

Source: Medical News Today
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/159124.php