Inside the horrifying TikTok trend glamorising sunburn and making cancer survivors furious: ‘Nothing sexy about that’

• New warnings over the personal use of sunbeds after TikTok beauty trends
• Cancer survivor Courtney Mangan warned tanning as dangerous as smoking 
• One melanoma diagnosis every 30 minutes, one Aussie dies every six hours

A dangerous online trend has emerged which is glamorising the use of sunbeds years after they were banned in commercial premises because of links to skin cancer.

Melanoma survivor Courtney Mangan and cancer experts there is ‘nothing sexy’ enticing TikTok clips of people showing off ‘healthy-looking’ solarium tans.

Experts say young women and men are regularly posting about using solariums to get the ideal look – without realising the dangers involved.

After a decade of campaigning led by leading cancer organisations, commercial solarium units were banned in Australia in 2015.

A dangerous online trend has emerged which is glamorising the use of sunbeds years after they were banned in commercial premises because of links to skin cancer

Melanoma survivor Courtney Mangan (pictured) and cancer experts have warned people not to be fooled by enticing TikTok clips of people showing off their solarium tans

But owning a solarium at home is not illegal and beauty influencers online have contributed to an interest in private use of sunbeds as part of a personal beauty regime.

Australia has the highest rates of melanoma in the world with one person diagnosed every 30 minutes and dying every every six hours. 

Ms Mangan, who survived seven year battle with the deadly form of skin cancer after finding a mole on her shoulder, compared solariums with smoking, A Current Affair reported.

‘That vanity of people … wanting that sexy healthy looking tan is not healthy at all and it’s something that we need to think about like smoking, smoking kills, so does tanning,’ Ms Mangan said.

‘It’s scary to think that people are prioritizing their vanity now when, trust me, the scars that you get from it, or a dead body, [there’s] nothing sexy about that.’

Ms Mangan said her ‘aggressive’ skin cancer returned three times over seven years. 

Some young women are regularly posting to TikTok about using solariums to get the ideal look – without realising the dangers involved

Brisbane dermatologist Dr Eshini Perera said private solarium use is ‘unregulated’ and dangerous

Brisbane dermatologist Dr Eshini Perera said private solarium use is ‘unregulated’ and dangerous.

Australians aged under 35 have ‘up to a 75 per cent increase’ in the likelihood of developing melanomas if people are exposed to a solarium.

It is the most common form of cancer for Australians aged 20 to 39, according to the Melanoma Institute of Australia.

Overall an estimated 1300 Australians will die from melanoma each year. 

The Melanoma Institute of Australia called for solariums to be banned for personal use.

The organisation has also teamed up with TikTok for a campaign raising awareness about the dangers of personal solariums.

Melanoma is the second most common cancer in Australian men, after prostate cancer and the third most common in women.

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