Tanning beds face new taxes and restrictions
Growing
concerns about the dangers of indoor tanning beds are leading to new taxes —
and possibly new restrictions — designed to curb the practice among young
people.
A Food and
Drug Administration advisory panel recommended Thursday that the agency
consider actions such as requiring that teenagers get parental consent before
using a tanning bed or even banning the use of tanning beds among teens. The
advisers also recommended reclassifying tanning lamps from Class I medical
devices — a category that includes tongue depressors and elastic bandages — to
a Class II or Class III device, which would permit the agency to impose greater
restrictions.
About 35%
of 17-year-old girls use tanning machines, an FDA report says. People under 30
who use tanning machines increase their risk of skin cancer by 75%, according
to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is affiliated with
the World Health Organization. That agency last July listed ultraviolet
radiation-emitting beds as "carcinogenic to humans," its highest
category of cancer risk.
The
melanoma rate among young women nearly tripled from 1973 to 2004, a National
Cancer Institute study showed.
In a
statement, the Indoor Tanning Association described the panel's recommendations
as "excessive" and added, "It is our sincere hope that the FDA
will fully explore this issue and base any decision on sound science."
Because
teens have less spending money than adults, a new 10% tax on indoor tanning —
included in the health reform bill signed last week by President Obama — may
make some young people think twice about tanning, says dermatologist Bruce
Katz, a spokesman for the Skin Cancer Foundation and director of the Juva Skin
and
The
Federal Trade Commission also has been cracking down on the marketing of indoor
tanning. In January, the agency charged the Indoor Tanning Association with
making false health and safety claims in its ads. The association agreed to
pull the disputed ads.
Source: usatoday.com