ISCAN 2026 Watch · Around the world

Where Sunbeds Are Banned

Two countries have shut down commercial tanning altogether. Dozens more keep minors out. Here's the global picture, and the case for Canada going further.

Why governments act

In 2009 the WHO's cancer agency, IARC, classified UV tanning devices as Group 1: carcinogenic to humans.
The WHO estimated in 2017 that sunbeds cause more than 10,000 melanomas and 450,000 non-melanoma skin cancers a year in the U.S., Europe and Australia combined.
People who have ever used a sunbed have about a 20% higher melanoma risk; first use before age 35 raises it by 59%.

Total bans on commercial tanning

Brazil was first. In 2009, soon after IARC's decision, its health regulator banned the use, sale and rental of tanning beds for cosmetic purposes, with fines that could reach the equivalent of about US$1.5 million.

Australia followed. The turning point was Clare Oliver, a young Victorian woman diagnosed with melanoma at 21, who partly blamed her solarium use. In August 2007, with weeks to live, she went public with her story. She died in September 2007, aged 26. Victoria banned solarium use by under-18s in 2009, and from 1 January 2015 commercial solariums were banned in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT. Western Australia followed on 1 January 2016. The Northern Territory has no commercial solariums.

Before the ban, an estimated 2,800 skin cancers and 43 melanoma deaths a year in Australia were attributed to solarium use.

Bans for minors

Country / region	What's restricted
Canada	All provinces restrict commercial tanning for minors (age 18 or 19); see our teen tanning page for the table
United Kingdom	Under-18s banned
France, Germany, Spain, Finland, Norway, Iceland, the Netherlands, Lithuania and others	Under-18s banned
New Zealand	Under-18 ban passed by Parliament in June 2016
United States	No federal ban: the FDA withdrew its proposal in March 2026. About 19 states and D.C. ban under-18s; others require parental consent or have weaker rules

Laws change; check current rules in your country, state or province. Sources below.

Some health authorities want more. In 2018 France's national health-safety agency, ANSES, called for a complete ban on commercial sunbeds. In New Zealand, melanoma specialists called for a full ban as soon as the under-18 law passed.

Should Canada go further?

ISCAN has campaigned since 1998 to get minors out of tanning beds, and every province now bars them. But adults can still tan commercially anywhere in Canada. Australia's experience shows a full ban is workable, and a Cancer Council survey there found majority public support for it.

ISCAN's view: Canada should follow Brazil and Australia. Until then, governments should at least require clear cancer warnings at every salon, ban health claims in tanning advertising, and enforce the youth bans already on the books.

Sources

This page is consumer information, not personal medical advice. If you have a new or changing mole, see a doctor or dermatologist. Last updated 2 November 2026.