Experts say a UK-wide ban on sunbeds, similar to one already in force in Australia, could save hundreds of lives and stop thousands of cases of skin cancer. Scientists from the University of Manchester have been working with colleagues in Australia to research the risks and costs of sun beds.
The team worked with 620,000 18-year-olds in England and their research, published in the British Journal of Dermatology, suggests there could be 1,200 fewer cases, and 200 fewer deaths among that group. And a sun bed ban would save the NHS £700,000 the researchers say.
Professor Adele Green, an expert in health and disease from the University of Manchester told Radio 1 Newsbeat : "There's a lot of misunderstanding about sunbeds, such as it provides vitamin D and it gives protective tans, I'm afraid both of these are incorrect.
"What sunbed exposure does is bring on premature aging and wrinkling of the skin as well as eye problems and high risks of skin cancer."
Gary Lipman, chairman of The Sunbed Association told the BBC: "We utterly refute the mathematically theoretical claims made in this study, not least because it relies heavily on data from studies conducted outside of the UK where the sunbed industry is not as well-regulated as it is here.
"A tanning session in a professional sunbed salon in England uses sunbeds that are designed to comply with a British Standard that dramatically reduces any risk of burning."
Susanna Daniels, CEO of Melanoma Focus, said: "There's no such thing as a safe tan, particularly if you've got pale skin or lots of moles we would advise not using [sunbeds]. Sunbeds give out greater doses of UV rays than the midday tropical sun and what these UV rays do is damage the DNA in your skin."
