California Tanning Bed Law Bans Underage Use

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California girls who dream about the sun-kissed skin glorified in song by Katy Perry will have to wait until they turn 18 before they can get the effect from tanning beds under a new first-in-the-nation law.

Gov. Jerry Brown announced Sunday that he had signed into law a bill that prevents children under 18 from using the popular tanning method. The law takes effect Jan. 1.

Although Texas has banned the use of tanning beds for children under 16, SB746 bill makes California the first state to set a higher age limit. Thirty other states also have some age restrictions on the use, said the bill's author, state Sen. Ted Lieu.

Under current law, children 14 and under in California already cannot use the beds, but those ages 15 to 17 can do so with permission from their parents. Illinois, New York, Ohio and Rhode Island have considered an age limit similar to California's, but have yet to enact them, said the Democrat from Torrance, Calif.

The ban will hurt businesses, many of them owned by women, said the Indoor Tanning Association. About 5 percent to 10 percent of its members' customers are under 18, the industry group noted.

The organization said tanning salons already are regulated by the state Department of Consumer Affairs and the federal Food and Drug Administration – regulations it called the most stringent in the nation.

But Lieu and other ban supporters said the higher age limit is needed because skin damage caused by the type of radiation used in tanning beds often leads to melanoma, which is skin cancer that can be fatal. Lieu said early tanning by children can increase the risk.

They also say that avid tanning is particularly popular in the state, especially in affluent areas of Southern California. Lieu pointed out there are more tanning salons in Los Angeles County than Starbucks coffee shops or McDonald's fast food restaurants.

"Girls in affluent California communities especially are surrounded by the message that being tanned all year round is cool," Christina Clarke, of the Cancer Prevention Institute of California, said in a recent statement supporting Lieu's bill. "Pop music star Katy Perry is even singing about it."

Lieu also cited a recent Stanford Cancer Institute-backed study that showed higher melanoma rates among girls and young women in areas of higher income.

Supporters said better education was also needed to counter practices that can lead to skin damage and melanoma. The measure was sponsored by the California Society of Dermatology and Dermatological Surgery and the AIM at Melanoma Foundation, and backed by other medical organizations and health insurers.

Lieu, in a statement praising Brown's decision, called skin cancer "a rising epidemic and the leading cause of cancer death for women between 25 and 29."

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Comments

[babby201]

11:49 PM on 10/27/2011

Do they think Teenage girls have time to waste lying on the beach ?
No way furshure ,the mall is open

[babby201]

11:47 PM on 10/27/2011

Lady:
How do you like children?
W.C.Fields :
BARBQUED !

[John Di Saia]

03:53 PM on 10/11/2011

While I like the result, I don't like making it a law. I think the "law" should have been the parents action here.

[Max Shaw]

02:42 PM on 10/11/2011

Philadelphia is way ahead of the curve it seems.

[IrieMoon]

11:30 AM on 10/11/2011

In about 25 years we're going to have an entire population of people who have "elephant" skin.


That should be interesting.

[AlfredE69]

03:00 AM on 10/11/2011

I'll give you my tanning bed when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!

[murphy1945]

07:32 PM on 10/10/2011

I am soooo glad Calif finally got this straightened out, I was beginning to think they had let this slip by them working on their 30B dollar deficit, but they came through after all. Maybe next we can get a million for each illegal alien.

[ybleiman]

07:16 PM on 10/10/2011

In addition to the reputable clinical studies done on increased melanoma in young people using tanning beds (a form of skin cancer which is typically fatal in 6 months) there are other disfiguring skin cancers (basal cell, squamous cell-- I had over 100 basal cell skin cancers by age 45); two of my family members died horribly painful deaths from melanoma--both were sunbathers and were inveterate sun-lovers. To have a basal cell cancer removed now costs about $1500 per site.

It's a sad commentary that laws have to be passed for people to take seriously that tanning typically leads to skin cancers--of which melanoma is nearly always fatal. Fifteen minutes of natural sunlight is however necessary for proper assimilation of Vitamin D. Vitamin D helps prevent bone loss--utilizing calcium. Osteoporosis is called a "pediatric disease with geriatric consequences (osteoporosis)". Children need sunlight and calcium rich foods to create healthy bones. They don't want to risk their lives for "a cool tan", or do they?

[BarelyLucid]

07:34 PM on 10/10/2011

Well said! F&F. Thank you for sharing your family's tragic outcome from sun exposure. Hopefully many will take due caution.

[mo524]

08:31 PM on 10/10/2011

Never listened to my mom when I was a kid spent to much time by the river with no sun screen got a bit of skin cancer my self from it was only 20 at the time. Of course now I do listen and always use it when im in the sun wish I would have when mom nagged me.

[sharon1122]

07:15 PM on 10/10/2011

Its time we sent the message to the youth that they are fine they way they look instead of saying do this and do that so you can look good. They need to know there are more important things in this world than being tanned, wearing tons of makeup and being extremely unhealthly skinny. In magazines etc we are sending the youth all the wrong messages.

[Comeplayinmyreality]

06:42 PM on 10/10/2011

As a teen I never went to a fake bake, I got my tanning needs from spending hours in the sun using baby oil and iodine. Luckily I smartened up and now take better care of my skin.

[demsrsilly]

07:29 AM on 10/11/2011

The government failed you. It should have been there to make sure you did not spend so much time in the sun.

[Iatros78]

05:57 PM on 10/10/2011

Science has established that tanning devices cause cancer. The world's leading cancer research organizations, the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the US National Toxicology Program, both confirm this. Businesses have no right to expose children to carcinogens in order to make money. Parents have no right endanger their children by permitting such exposure. And children with developing prefrontal cortexes are in no position to determine such risks for themselves. In our constitutional democracy, it is the task of state governments to protect the health and safety of citizens, especially children. California's new law banning those under 18 from exposure to carcinogenic tanning beds is a prudent and responsible law based on the best science available. It is also fully in line with the purposes that state governments are tasked with in the United States.

[SusieQTX]

05:14 PM on 10/10/2011

I bought my first tanning package on my 16th birthday and have tanned non-stop since. That was a long time ago but I can't imagine being anything but tan. I think some people can handle the rays better than others and I have never had problems with them. That's not to say that when I get old and grey that it might not be the case anymore, but for now... I'm happy.

[grod805]

06:49 PM on 10/10/2011

Please reconsider your position. I'm assuming people who matter in your life won't care if you're tan or pale.

[ToysRUsshopper]

04:21 PM on 10/10/2011

I agree with this. I don't want my kids to look like Snooki with skin cancer.

[nicarol]

04:13 PM on 10/10/2011

I can't believe people fry themselves in those melanoma machines in the first place. As bad as cooking yourself in the sun is, the fake tan is even worse. Just inject cancer cells in your buttocks, and be done with it.

[demsrsilly]

07:30 AM on 10/11/2011

Exactly! The government now needs to pass laws to make sure people are not in the sun too much!

Who needs parents when there is government?

[mdinazagain]

03:45 PM on 10/10/2011

Makes no sense. They are too young for a tan, but plenty old enough for an abortion. We'll even make the taxpayers cover the cost.

[simzillyjp]

03:55 PM on 10/10/2011

Too young for a tan? You're kidding ? What next? Banning them from the beaches?

[demsrsilly]

07:31 AM on 10/11/2011

Yes, that is what NEEDS to be done next. The sun is dangerous and can cause melanoma.

[Curandera]

05:35 PM on 10/10/2011

So you want them to be able to get cancer but not be able to get an abortion?

You are confusing me.