Tourists heading abroad this summer have been warned against participating in a viral tanning challenge amid fears it could have long-term health impacts. The trend, which has predominately been seen on TikTok and Instagram, sees people documenting their extreme changes in skin tone whilst tanning abroad.
Health experts and dermatologists have raised serious concerns about the impact it could be having on peoples’ skin. The British Skin Foundation has warned that extreme tanning can lead to skin damage and melanoma. Dr. Sarah Thompson, a leading dermatologist at King’s College London, said: “What these young people are essentially documenting is severe sun damage occurring in real-time.
“This kind of rapid skin darkening indicates significant UV exposure that can have serious long-term consequences.”
The trend shows people going from pale to extremely tanned within an incredibly short timeframe, sometimes just 5-7 days.
The posts are often accompanied by hashtags like #MallorcaTan and #TanningTransformation and have amassed millions of views online.
The trend is one of several that have seen holidaymakers put themselves in harms way in the pursuit of ‘likes’ in recent years.
Last year, a spate of injures across Europe were attributed to a trend called “balconing” which sees people jumping from balconies into swimming pools.
The warning about tanning comes as the continent is gripped by a heatwave.
Parts of eastern and southeastern Spain have seen temperatures reach the high 30Cs, with extreme temperatures also expected across southern Italy and Greece.
The extreme weather has led to concerns not just about the impact of high exposure to the sun but also of the risk for heat-related injuries.
A new study by scientists in the UK estimates that extreme heat killed 2,300 people across 12 major cities as temperatures soared across the continent between 23 June and 2 July.
Milan was the hardest-hit city in absolute terms, with 317 out of 499 heat deaths, followed by Paris and Barcelona.
London had 273 heat deaths, 171 of which the researchers attributed to human influence on the climate.
“This study demonstrates why heatwaves are known as silent killers,” said Malcolm Mistry, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and co-author of the study.
“While a handful of deaths have been reported in Spain, France and Italy, thousands more people are expected to have died as a result of the blistering temperatures.”