Recent images of an under 18 who received 70% burns from visiting an unstaffed tanning bed salon in Wales made the news.
It has resulted in the Welsh assembly passing legislation that will firstly see unstaffed tanning salons being banned. Secondly, all under 18s will not be able to access Tanning Salons from April 8th.
The dangers of sunbeds are well known
Further regulations will require the supervision of all adults using tanning beds from 31st October.
The Welsh Assembly has gone much further than the rest of the UK, where tightening of laws have already seen Tanning Salons having to provide protective eye wear for their customers as well as provide health information about the use of sunbeds.
Wales has been hit particularly hard by recent cases of children getting badly burned by sunbeds. As a result, Cancer Research UK carried out a study and found that 8% of children in Wales between 11 and 17 had used a sunbed once with 40% having used them unsupervised.
The cases of skin cancer have risen considerably over the last few years, not just in Wales but in the UK as a whole.
The risks of UV rays are now well known and whether using tanning salons or natural sunbathing, the underlying dangers of sun burn in the short term and possible skin melanoma in the long term are well known.
Many people are now turning to fake tanning products as a safer alternative.
