Tanning with ultraviolet A sunbeds.

Many patients with psoriasis use sunbeds

“…Sunbeds that emit ultraviolet A light might seem an attractive option, but their use, at least for tanning purposes, is discouraged by dermatologists and other healthcare workers. 1 2…”

“…Of most concern is whether the risk of melanoma attributed to sunbed use4 will become significantly higher with longer follow up of sunbed users. The British Photodermatology Group suggested a maximum of 20 exposures annually for people who, despite its advice, wished to use sunbeds 1. While it has been argued that this recommended maximum is pragmatic,3 it is worrying that this exposure level was exceeded by over half of our patients who used sunbeds to treat their psoriasis.…”

Banning children and youth under the age of 18 years from commercial tanning facilities

“…The use of tanning devices has been associated with acute adverse reactions such as a form of skin fragility known as pseudoporphyria (Murphy et al, 1990;Weiss and Jung, 1990) and lentigines (Salisbury et al, 1989;Kadunce et al, 1990) that have been noted in case reports. There have also been case reports of induction (Fruchter and Edoute, 2004) and exacerbation (Stern and Docken, 1986) of systemic lupus erythematosus.…”

“…year, lifetime) is arbitrary and subjective. A limit of 20 sessions per year (equivalent to an exposure of approximately 40 SED or 20 MED in melanocompromised individuals) was proposed by the British Photodermatology Group (BPG) in 1990 (Diffey et al 1990) and was subsequently adopted by the UK Health & Safety Executive (HSE 1995).…”

Actinic keratoses induced by use of sunbed

“…EDITOR, - David Shuttleworth's editorial1 reminds doctors of the hazards of use of sunbeds, which were detailed by the British Photodermatology Group 2. Although many adverse effects may occur, neither non-melanoma skin cancer nor dysplasia has been reported.…”