A panel of health experts and skin cancer survivors urged the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday to do more to protect teens from the risks of tanning beds. They recommended restrictions including outlawing artificial tanning for people under 18, requiring parental consent and increasing the regulation of tanning devices.
A recent World Health Organization report found that people who use tanning beds in their teens and 20s are 75 percent more likely do develop the deadliest kinds of skin cancer, the Associated Press reported. The WHO recently put tanning beds in the same category of cancer-risk as cigarrettes and arsenic, CNN reports.
From the Associated Press:
Dr. William James, president of the American Academy of Dermatology Association, said his group has seen a startling increase in skin cancer among women in their teens and twenties.
“What was formerly considered a disease of older men is ballooning in young women, the very target audience and number one customer of the tanning industry,” James said.
James and other physicians claimed indoor-tanning advertisements appeal to teenagers’ desire to be attractive.
Between 40 and 60 percent of teenage girls surveyed went artificial tanning in the prior year, despite awareness of cancer risks, according to studies cited by the FDA.
The FDA has regulated sun lamps for two decades, but considers them “low-risk” machines — in the same category with band-aids and tongue depressors. The expert panel recommended the agency reclassify the devices in order to regulate the amount of radiation they emit.
A representative from the Indoor Tanning Association told the FDA that the WHO numbers were based on old data, the AP reports.
The new healthcare reform bill adds a 10 percent tax on all tanning-related services, effective July 1. The FDA is also considering new cancer warnings for tanning lamps.
