The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants to reclassify sunlamp products so that their labeling includes a recommendation against young people using them. For the moment, the FDA move is just a proposed order that it aims to eventually finalize.
The American Academy of Dermatology informed that people who are exposed to ultraviolet radiation from indoor tanning have a 75% higher risk of developing the deadliest type of skin cancer – melanoma.
Researchers from the University of California San Francisco reported in the BMJ (British Medical Journal) that tanning beds cause 170,000 skin cancer annually in the USA.
The aim of the proposed order is to warn of the consequences of using sunlamp products for children under 18 years of age – it is not a proposal to ban the products for this age group, the FDA emphasized.
The order would reclassify sunlamp products from a Class I to a Class II device – from low to moderate risk.
FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., said:
“Using indoor tanning beds can damage your skin and increase your risk of developing skin cancer. The FDA’s proposed changes will help address some of the risks associated with sunlamp products and provide consumers with clear and consistent information.”
Under 18s banned from using tanning salons in California – some states have introduced their own laws requiring tanning salon users to be above a certain age. In October 2011, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law raising the minimum age from 14 to 18 years.
Sunlamp devices are currently exempt from any pre-market review. If the FDA order is finalized, sunlamp manufacturers will no longer be exempt.
If the order is finalized makers of sun lamp products will need to demonstrate that their products have met specific performance testing requirements, address certain characteristics of their product’s design and provide detailed and clear labeling regarding the risks of use for consumers.
In an online communiqué, the FDA wrote “The order proposes to include a contraindication against use on people under 18 years old, and the labeling would have to include a warning that frequent users of sunlamp products should be regularly screened for skin cancer.”
For the next 90 days the FDA welcomes comments from the public regarding the proposed order.
Nearly everyone knows about the health risks associated with using indoor tanning beds, especially tanning salon owners. That is why researchers were surprised to find that 65% of tanning salons let children as young as 10 use their facilities in Missouri.
The study, which was published in Pediatrics (February 2013 issue), included data on 375 tanning salons. The researchers called them up on the phone as prospective clients and asked a series of questions. In order to improve accuracy in their results, each salon was called twice.
Most of the salons admitted over the phone that they allowed children aged from 10 to 12 years to use their facilities. Forty-three percent of them gave false information about indoor-tanning safety – put more simply, they said there was no health risk.
The researchers said “Minimizing exposure to ultraviolet rays, no matter the source, lowers one’s risk of skin cancer. The problem with indoor tanning is that users start very young and, unlike the sun, tanning beds are a completely avoidable cancer risk.”
Written by Christian Nordqvist