Antinuclear

Health Minister Michelle O’Byrne said Tasmania would join New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia in banning solariums from commercial use by December 2014.The move comes four years after the government slapped heavy restrictions on solarium owners, including bans for customers aged under 18, bans for people with very fair skin, and mandatory training for all operators.

Ms O’Byrne said the regulations, which were introduced in August 2009, had seen the number of solariums in the state reduce from 150 to nine in 2013.

“There is compelling evidence that people who use artificial indoor tanning devices increase their risk of skin cancer,” Ms O’Byrne said.

“As a result, commercial solaria devices will be banned in Tasmania by December 2014…….

Cancer Council of Tasmania chief executive Penny Egan said she was satisfied the government had followed the lead of its NSW, South Australian and Victorian counterparts.

“There is no safe level of solaria use, they are dangerous and emit levels of UV radiation up to three times as strong as the midday summer sun,” Ms Egan said.

The NSW government was the first in Australia, and only the second jurisdiction in the world, to ban solariums.

Last week the state announced it would offer a buy-back of $1000 for each tanning bed to prevent businesses moving them onto the black market once the ban starts……http://www.examiner.com.au/story/1621203/tasmania-to-outlaw-use-of-solariums/?cs=94