KEY POINTS:
Green MP Sue Kedgley is calling for the Government to regulate solariums because of the risk of getting skin cancer from sunbeds.
Health Minister Pete Hodgson is not ruling it out but says there are no current plans to regulate.
Ms Kedgley said there should be a legally enforceable standard on solariums and a ban for people aged under 18.
"In New Zealand anyone can pay to get a tan, and children as young as 15 are being exposed to very strong ultraviolet rays," the MP said.
In August the New Zealand Cancer Council said it wanted the Government to follow Australian moves to replace voluntary rules on salon sunbed use with laws to restrict access by teenagers.
Australian regulators intend to put the limit at 16, with 17- and 18-year-olds requiring parental permission. France has banned sunbed salons for under-18s and several European countries have limits on the amount of exposure to harmful rays for all ages.
Regular sunbed use may cause disfigurement from removal of skin cancers and early death if the cancer is a malignant melanoma.
Ms Kedgley said a voluntary code of conduct was not working. Two Consumers' Institute surveys had found only a tiny percentage of solariums complied.
"Given that the level of UV rays that people are exposed to on a sunbed is up to five times stronger than the midday summer sun, this is totally unacceptable."
- NZPA
