Teen "Tan Ban" Could Make It Illegal for 18 and Under to Use Tanning Beds

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By Heather VacLav

Story Created: Mar 7, 2013 at 12:51 AM CDT

Story Updated: Mar 7, 2013 at 10:10 AM CDT

Alabama dermatologists say one person in the U.S. dies about every hour from skin cancer connected to tanning beds.

After passing a house committee this morning, a new bill makes Alabama one step closer to stopping children from using tanning beds.

Skin cancer survivors like Alison Griffitt of Sylacauga said she never thought tanning could have nearly killed her. "I wouldn't go all the time, it would maybe be for two weeks at a time, and I didn't think it was a big deal," Griffitt said. "Senior year I was diagnosed with malignant melanoma, thankfully it was early detection. I had two surgeries and it was removed."

Griffitt was diagnosed with the deadliest form of skin cancer when she was just 17-years old. Now she says she is working to educate other young women about the risks she was never taught about early on.

"You don't hear much about the tanning bed, if I had not been in my Anatomy class, I would have not noticed that spot and I could have died," Griffitt explained sharing how she found unusual moles on her body after learning about skin cancer in school.

Dermatologist Dr. Vera Soong, M.D., with Baptist Princeton Medical Center in Birmingham says the number of incidents are skyrocketting. "It's especially going up in young women and it's directly related to the use of tanning beds," Soong said.

Other dermatologists, health care professionals and survivors across Alabama joined Dr. Soong and Griffitt to propose a ban on tanning for children under the age of 18. The bill also would require tanning bed salons to tell customers about the health risks.

"When [children] are young, and imature we need to protect them just like we protect them from tobacco [risks]," Dr. Soong said.

However, tanning salons in Alabama like Palm Beach Tan say they already have rules in place so that children can not get inside of a tanning bed without parental consent.

"The professional salons are already requiring parental consent for tanners under the age of 16 or 18 before they step into a tanning facility," said Joseph Levy. Levy is the executive director for the International Smart Tan Network, he also serves as a consultant withe the American Suntanning Association who represents Palm Beach Tan, which has 20 locations in Alabama.

"Parents need to be aware of what they're doing and the industry has always supported that," Levy said after speaking in front of the house committee Wednesday morning.

Griffitt said she agrees with Palm Beach's policies to limit children and mandate parental consent up to age 16, but she says not every tanning salon has strict precautions. "I know that coming from a small town, at small town tanning beds, I've seen very very young children get in a tanning bed because it's something that's just not regulated," Griffitt said.

While the American Suntanning Association wants to work with healthcare professionals to find middle ground on the bill, they say the current legislation misrepresents tanning salons' relationship with Ultra Violet (UV) light.

"To say that sunlight is harmful for you and you should therefore avoid sunlight is like saying  water causes drowning and therefore humans shouldn't drink wate," Levy said.

Regardless, Griffitt says something needs to be done in Alabama, a state which does not have state laws for tanning bed regulations. 

"it's not worth it in the long run, if I had known that I would have been diagnosed with malignant melanoma, than I would have not gotten in the tanning bed," Griffitt said. "I highly discourage it, so if you feel like you need to be tan, please get a spray tan as an alternative," she begged young girls or anyone feeling the pressure to be "tan".

The "Tan Ban" bill still has a ways to go before becoming a law. It passed the House Health Subcommittee Wednesday, and will now move to the full House Health committee before being voted on by the House.

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Jaimes_mom said on Thursday, Mar 7 at 4:05 PM

Dereck, you can twist the research any way you want but the facts are that tanning beds cause cancer. Yes, all minors should be banned from tanning beds because the health dangers are not worth the use of this UV radiation equipment for vanity. There is NO reason why our kids should be spending time in these death traps. Yet your spin on the "benefits" (misinformation and lies) have made it so that parents can't make an informed decision for their children ... so unfortunately, parental consent doesn't work. Perhaps legislators should do their own research on the web sites of the WHO, CDC, NCI, AAD, IARC, FDA, FTC, AIM, and other prestigious medical authorities to see what they say about the dangers of tanning beds. Dereck, if emotion and medical opinions/research are not what legislative decisions on this issue should be based ... what should they be based on? Perhaps the $$$ the indoor tanning industry is raking in while they put children's lives in danger?

Dereck said on Thursday, Mar 7 at 8:07 AM

This sounds well and good, but just like anything else, you have to try to think about unintended consequences. Ban or not, teens will continue to seek tans and they will seek out unmonitored home tanning units and unsafe habits in the natural sun. Research shows that the risk of using home tanning beds is far greater than using them in salons - presumably because of exposure time and because salon workers are trained to not allow clients to overexpose. As much as doctors would like you to believe it, research has not shown a statistically significant correlation between tanning in salons and melanoma - only with home use and medical phototherapy. Melanoma is clearly a very sad thing, but when talking about legislation, emotion and anecdotal evidence must be put to the side. Unfortunately, a very small percentage of young people have always gotten melanoma, and continue to. But melanoma in young people is not on the rise according to National Cancer Institute data.

Steve Burgess said on Thursday, Mar 7 at 6:09 AM

Heather - if it becomes law it "would" make it illegal, not "could".

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