Tanning Bed Risk of Cancer Draws Proposed Legislation

Calling tanning beds, the “cigarettes of our time,” congressional lawmakers have introduced new legislation in an attempt to lower the risk of cancer from tanning beds. 

The new bipartisan bill, the Tanning Bed Cancer Control Act, was introduced in late January by U.S. Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-New York) and Charlie Dent (R-Pennsylvania). The bill would allow federal regulators to set controls on the amount of ultraviolet radiation emitted by tanning beds as well as set limits on the amount of time users can use the devices.

The legislation comes as the FDA is preparing for public hearings next month on the tanning bed risk of cancer. The FDA could potentially reclassify tanning beds as a more serious type of medical device that would require more stringent regulation. Currently, tanning beds are classified as Class I medical devices, the same classification as bandages.

Tanning beds have been the focus of increased scrutiny by lawmakers and regulators after a decision by the World Health Organization (WHO) last year to list tanning beds as known carcinogens, placing them in the same category as cigarettes and arsenic. A study released by WHO in July 2009, determined that the use of tanning beds before the age of 30 increases the risk of skin cancer by 75%. Previously, they had been classified as “probable” carcinogens.

“Tanning beds are the cigarettes of our time: cancer-causing and poorly regulated,” Rep. Carolyn Maloney said in a press release. “Through education and improved regulation, we can save lives.”

Rep. Dent said that melanoma had impacted his own family, and that the proposed legislation would ensure that the beds are properly labeled and that standards are updated to minimize health risks.

Some studies have shown that the use of tanning beds by young adults results in eight times the risk of developing melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer once found mainly in the elderly, but which has increasingly become a problem for younger adults. The American Cancer Society says that melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, is diagnosed in about 69,000 Americans each year and causes about 8,650 deaths annually. Less dangerous, but more common, basal and squamous cell carcinomas affect more than one million Americans each year and cause about 2,000 deaths annually.

Both the FDA and the Indoor Tanning Association say that one of the major problems is people who go too often and overexpose themselves to ultraviolet radiation, hoping to get a better tan. The FDA says once a week will give people the same results as going three times per week. However, the ITA says that it does not believe there is any new science which would justify more stringent FDA regulations.