Artificial tan can give you cancer

PARIS: Tanning beds now rank alongside cigarettes and asbestos as a top-level cancer threat, the World Health Organization's (WHO) cancer research agency announced yesterday.

Classified in 1992 and a "probable" cancer agent, research since then has left no doubt that soaking up UV rays at tanning salons significantly enhances the chances of developing the disease, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) found.

"The use of sun-beds is carcinogenic to humans. It causes melanoma of the skin, and melanoma of the eye," said Vincent Cogliano, an IARC researcher who led the new assessment.