Sunbeds are something many people choose to use for the sake of looking “healthy” and “glowing”.
But do they understand the facts? Across the UK, 28% of adults use sunbeds. For 18–25-year-olds, that jumps to 43%. Nearly half of young people are regularly lying down under artificial ultraviolet (UV) light, deliberately exposing their skin to the same type of radiation that causes skin cancer.
And the problem? Most don’t realise how dangerous that is. Almost one in four young people actually believe that using sunbeds reduces their risk of skin cancer. That is flat-out wrong — dangerously wrong.
Melanoma doesn’t care how old you are. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer. In the UK, it kills over 2,300 people a year. Around 100 of those deaths are directly linked to sunbed use. First using a sunbed before the age of 35 increases your risk of melanoma by 59%. And if you’ve ever used a sunbed, your risk is around 27% higher than someone who never has.
This is not a cancer that waits until you’re retired. Among people diagnosed between the ages of 18 and 29 who had ever used a sunbed, 76% of those melanomas were caused by sunbeds.
The ‘Sunbed Capital’ effect. Belfast currently holds the title of “sunbed capital of the UK” with 37% of adults using them — and about half of those are new users. But it’s not just Belfast. Mapping data shows that sunbed salons are more common in deprived areas.
That’s not just coincidence. In 2024, England had 4,476 sunbed outlets, with the highest densities often found in communities already facing other health inequalities. This matters — because melanoma rates in young women map closely to areas with higher sunbed availability.
It’s a deadly overlap: the places with the most tanning salons are often those least well-served by health promotion campaigns.
The industry won’t tell you this: Sunbeds were classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organisation back in 2009 — right alongside tobacco and asbestos. That’s not a scare tactic. That’s a scientific fact. UV radiation damages the DNA in your skin cells, and over time, those mutations can grow into aggressive, invasive cancers.
But unlike smoking, there’s still a “beauty” narrative propping up sunbed use. Salons market them as a quick confidence boost, a way to “prep” for a holiday, or even claim that “controlled tanning” is safe. They even target higher age ranges, promoting the addition of Vitamin D and Collagen benefits for the skin.
But the true facts are:
- Sunbeds are proven to cause cancer — full stop.
- They’re more common in deprived areas, making health inequalities worse.
- Young people are the fastest-growing group of users, but also the least aware of the risks.
- Around 86% of melanomas are preventable — avoiding UV radiation (natural or artificial) is one of the easiest, cheapest, and most effective ways to reduce your risk.
Your skin is for life. Don’t trade decades of living for a few weeks of “looking good”.
Melanoma Focus UK 2024 Research Outcome Study.
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