Irish Cancer Society issues warning over banned fake tan product
The Irish Cancer Society is warning about the dangers of injecting the fake tan product, Melanotan.
One in 10 people using the HSE's needle exchange programme are injecting the banned substance.
Melanotan, which can be bought online, can cause acne, high blood pressure and body swelling.
Kevin O'Hagan from the Irish Cancer Society has warned of the dangers of injecting the substance.
"The difficulty is it's an illegal substance and it's highly dangerous. Some of the reports we're hearing in relation to the side effects, that range from sickness right through to a link to melanoma skin cancer, really can cause a lot of difficulties for someone," he said.
"[The side effects] range from sickness, acne, high blood pressure, people often get flu-like symptoms when using it. We've heard reports of people getting body swelling and dark, black blotches on their skin and freckles getting brown," Mr O'Hagan added.
There have been over 500 seizures of the illegal drug since 2014.
