The European Commission warned on Thursday against artificial devices used extensively nowadays by fair skinned people to get tanned. The EU scientific committee on consumer products claimed that all the sunbeds, tanning lamps and other devices using UV radiation are very harmful to our skin, as they cause malignant melanoma, the type of skin cancer that leads to death.

Most skin cancer is produced by UV (ultraviolet) rays that can cause two types of cancer: malignant melanoma, that most usually leads to death, and non-melanoma skin cancer, which is not that dangerous for our lives, but it nevertheless is slowly-growing within our epidermis.

The most likely to get skin cancer are the fair-skinned people that also get burned when over-exposing to the sun. But these people should not see artificial tanning as more appropriate for getting their skin bronzed, as subeds and others use only UV rays that lead to skin cancer.

Nevertheless, besides individuals that are fair skinned, the youngsters, the ones with a family history in melanoma, the ones that have freckles or moles should also stay away from artificial tanning.

Melanoma is a cancerous (malignant) tumor which is produced by the cells in the skin that give its pigment, cells called melanocytes. Melanoma begins as a dark skin lesion and may spread rapidly to other areas on the skin and within the body.

A study on this issue showed that an approximate number of 100 British people die yearly because of regular use of sunbeds and associated devices. That happens because there is no legal limit on the level of UV rays that producers of artificially tanning devices should use.

Therefore, EU scientists are going to ask producers in the tanning industry to avoid misuse of the low-voltage devices by regular people. The commission will also ask agencies that certify and authorize these products to impose an admitted limit on the UV radiation.