Information for beauty care professionals
When using non-ionizing radiation in beauty care, the operator must ensure that the treatments do not pose a health hazard to anyone. Ensuring the safety of beauty care services is always the sole responsibility of the service provider. The safety of a beauty care service is primarily assessed on the basis of the output power of the used device. The use of excessively powerful beauty care devices is not permitted outside healthcare settings. Beauty care professionals should familiarize themselves carefully with the content of this page before deciding on the purchase of a device using radiation for cosmetic purposes.
Many cosmetic treatments are based on exposing the skin or the body to laser radiation, radio frequency electromagnetic radiation (RF), intense pulsed light (IPL), ultrasound, infrared radiation, or ultraviolet radiation. Treatments carried out using powerful devices pose the risk of skin burns and residual scarring.
According to Section 5 of the Consumer Safety Act (920/2011) , operators must, by observing the care and skills required by the circumstances, ensure that consumer services do not involve any risk to the health or property of any person. The safety of beauty care treatments is always the sole responsibility of the service provider.
Things to consider before purchasing radiation-emitting cosmetic devices
The purchase of a beauty care device requires care, and the radiation safety of the device should be verified before making the purchase decision. The level of radiation emitted by the device must not exceed the corresponding exposure limits set in the legislation. An excessively powerful beauty care device may be banned from further use by an administrative decision.
Radiation legislation aims to ensure the safety of the use of radiation. In the case of beauty care services using non-ionizing radiation, the exposure is limited by the means of exposure limit values. In most cas-es, the exposure is directly dependent on the output power of the device. Thus, the use of equipment capable of producing powerful radiation is only permitted in healthcare settings. If a powerful device is being used outside healthcare, STUK may issue an order prohibiting its further use.
Treatment devices used in beauty care must meet the requirements of national legislation
There is no uniform radiation legislation in the EU. Neither are there standards available for all beauty care device types to demonstrate compliance.
The monitoring of the use of non-ionizing radiation is based on the Radiation Act (859/2018) and the Decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health on the limitation of public exposure to non-ionizing radiation (1045/2018). The STUK regulation (S/11/2021) on the use of non-ionizing radiation in a cosmetic or other comparable procedure includes some changes to the applicable exposure limit values.
The Decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health includes exposure limits for the exposure to electromagnetic fields, optical radiation and ultrasound. In the Decree, optical radiation means visible light as well as ultraviolet, infrared and laser radiation.
The exposure limits in the Decree are not applied to exposure where non-ionizing radiation is deliber-ately directed at humans in a medical examination or a treatment procedure or in an appropriately approved scientific study under the supervision of a physician. The activities carried out in healthcare settings are supervised jointly by the local regional state administrative agencies (aluehallintovirasto, AVI) and Valvira.
The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority may request a description of the use of radiation
If the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) suspects that non-ionizing radiation is used in beauty care in such a way that the exposure limit values are exceeded.
According to Section 162 of the Radiation Act, the exposure in cosmetic procedures may exceed the exposure limit value only if it can be reliably demonstrated that the procedure does not cause harmful tis-sue damage or alterations in vital functions. This demonstration is required if the limit values set in the legislation are exceeded during a treatment procedure. If no demonstration of the safety of the proce-dure can be produced, the exposure during the treatment procedure must remain below the exposure limit values set in the Decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health or in the STUK regulation.
If the exposure limit values indicated in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health Decree are exceeded during the treatment procedure, but the exposure is below the limit values of the STUK regulation, the operator must inform the customer of the risks associated with the procedure before carrying it out. In addition, the contraindications related to the procedure must be available in writing before the treatment device is put into service. The STUK regulation may also contain additional requirements depend-ing on the type of radiation used.