The Food and Drug Administration wants to prohibit indoor tanning for minors and is seeking stricter regulations to enhance the safety of indoor tanning and use of sunlamp products for all users.
“Today’s action is intended to help protect young people from a known and preventable cause of skin cancer and other harms. Individuals under 18 years are at greatest risk of the adverse health consequences of indoor tanning,” said acting FDA Commissioner Stephen Ostroff in a news release outlining the two proposed rules.
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Currently, 1.6 million minors tan indoors yearly, according to data from the 2013 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, cited by the FDA. Although many states require parental consent before minors can use tanning facilities, a national standard is lacking.
An additional measure in the first proposed rule requires adults who use commercial tanning beds to sign a “risk acknowledgment certification” statement before the first tanning session and every 6 months thereafter. These restrictions are appropriate, the FDA statement said, because of the increased risk of skin cancer, notably melanoma, and other risks associated with indoor tanning. According to the proposed rule, some research has found that “doses of UVA radiation emitted by high-power sunlamp products may be up to 10-15 times higher than that of the midday sun, resulting in an intense amount of exposure that does not exist in nature.”
The second proposed ruleis aimed at tanning facilities and sunlamp manufacturers, and contains measures to bring about safer use of tanning devices. These rules would set limits on the amount of light allowed through protective eyewear when tanning, make an emergency “off” switch mandatory on tanning beds, improve warning signs and tanning bulb labeling, and prohibit device modifications without FDA recertification.
According to the FDA, these regulations would affect more than 30,000 tanning salons, health clubs, and spas that offer indoor tanning. “These proposed rules are meant to help adults make their decisions based on truthful information and to ensure manufacturers and tanning facilities take additional steps to improve the safety of these devices,” Dr. Ostroff said.
The rules and opportunities to comment are available starting Monday, Dec. 21 at www.regulations.gov. Public comments will be open for 90 days.
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