Harmful misinformation claiming sunbeds offer health benefits in winter is being spread by tanning companies on social media, the BBC has found.
We have identified hundreds of adverts on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook saying sunbeds can boost energy and treat skin conditions or mental health problems.
One suggested that going on a sunbed for “eight minutes” could prevent colds and flu, while another claimed that UV rays could “stimulate the thyroid gland” to help someone lose weight.
Claims like these are “irresponsible” and “potentially dangerous”, the government told us – while an NHS dermatologist described the amount of sunbed misinformation on social media as “genuinely terrifying”.
Our findings come after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned six tanning adverts for making irresponsible health claims or suggesting sunbeds were safe.
Cancer charities and doctors are clear about the risks of using sunbeds – and say the machines are linked to higher rates of melanoma and other skin cancers.
Using a bed before the age of 35 increases the risk of melanoma by 59% later in life, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Sunbed Association, which represents half the UK’s tanning shops, says the ASA and WHO are using “outdated data”, but encourages its members not to use medical claims in advertising.
Young people are by far the biggest sunbed users in the UK – about one in seven 18-to-24-year-olds say they used one in the past year, double the average for all age groups, according to a 2025 YouGov survey.
Other data suggests nearly a quarter of under-25s wrongly believe sunbeds actually reduce the risk of getting skin cancer.
Kass Barker was told she had melanoma at the age of 22 after she had a suspect mole checked on her wrist.
Although she can’t know for sure what caused her cancer, she thinks sunbeds increased the risk.
She and her friends would tell themselves they were using the beds, she says, to get “a few minutes of vitamin D”.
The NHS says sunbeds should never be used for that reason.
