SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Melanotan sellerInfluencers promoting ‘dangerous’ tanning productsDozens of social-media influencers are promoting banned tanning products to millions of followers, a BBC News investigation has found.It is illegal in the UK to sell nasal sprays or injectables made with “melanotan-2”, an artificial hormone that can accelerate tanning.The unlicensed drug is dangerous, dermatologists say, and users should stop immediately.And there is evidence the untested products may be linked to skin cancer. The Advertising Standards Agency says all influencers must act responsibly, including ensuring products and the companies they link to are not acting illegally.’I knew something wasn’t right’Liv and Elaina both long for a tan like the models on their social-media feeds.When influencers and friends started sporting golden-brown skin, they wanted to know their secret. Soon, Liv was ordering tanning injections from a UK-based website. Elaina opted for a nasal spray, which she bought on social media. For two months, Liv, from Leeds, jabbed her stomach and then went on a sunbed, which she had been told would “activate” the drug. It gave her headaches but she felt it was worth it – until, eight months later, she found a strangely shaped mole on her thigh.”It was dark and raised, about the size of a pea,” she says. “I’m not a ‘moley’ person, so I knew something wasn’t right.”Doctors agreed with Liv. But shortly after the mole was removed, she was diagnosed with stage-one melanoma, a skin cancer that can be life-threatening.Liv needed surgery to remove the cancerous tissue around the area where the mole had been and her dermatologist told her the injections were the likely cause.”A cancer diagnosis is terrifying, never mind when you’re 27 years old,” she says. Within minutes of her first nasal spray, Elaina’s face “burned up” and turned bright red.”I was told my body just needed to get used to it,” she says. “A week later, my throat started to close up – I literally couldn’t breathe.” The 19-year-old, from Stockton-on-Tees, Durham, needed hospital treatment and was diagnosed with a serious throat and sinus infection.Doctors told her inhaling the tanning product was the cause and they had seen other patients develop similar symptoms after using it.BBC News has spoken to 20 people who have experienced complications, including lesions, fungal infections and abscesses.’Unnaturally orange and unusual moles’Melanotan-2 can increase the production of melanin, the pigment that darkens skin, but it has never had rigorous safety testing.Social-media sites have propelled the drug, previously sold in some gyms and salons, into the mainstream, with the trend mainly driven by young, white women.The recent introduction of a nasal spray can also make it seem more appealing.The British Association of Dermatologists is now on the alert for patients with warning signs of “unusual orange tans” and “disordered moles”.Some sellers claim their products are safe – but Dr Catherine Borysiewicz, from the association, says the only safe tan is fake tan.”We have evidence these products are potentially dangerous and can potentially lead to cancer,” she says. “We have cases which have shown melanoma developing after trying them. “I talk about skin risks – but who knows what else it might be doing?”‘I didn’t realise the damage it could do’