Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed Friday to put a ban on indoor tanning for children below the age of 18 with an aim to reduce skin cancer linked to tanning beds in the United States.
American Academy of Dermatology says indoor tanning practice risks an individual with the deadliest form of skin cancer by about 50 percent. However, couple of other researches contradicts emphasizing the increase of melanoma risk is about 20 percent.
Survey by a federal youth health in 2013 found about 1.6 million people below the age of 18 uses indoor tanning every year.
FDA regulates the tanning beds and said would be forcing the manufacturers of it to make warning labels more prominent, add a panic button too that can turn off the lamp, and also make some other safety modifications too.
According to chief medical officer in the FDA’s division regulating medical devices for children, De. Vasum Peiris, many still believe indoor tanning is safer than outdoor tanning but the fact lies that some of the lamps in the devices deliver up to 15 times the intensity of the midday sun.
American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network said the proposals of FDA has long been awaiting and is an important step to help reduce skin cancer diagnoses and deaths.
The agency added further, “We commend the FDA for educating the public about the dangers of exposure to harmful ultraviolet radiation and restricting use for our nation’s youth. Indoor tanning devices are not safe.”
Acting FDA commissioner Dr. Stephen Ostroff said the latest proposal is intended to help minors from skin cancer and other harms as they are at the greatest adverse health risk of indoor tanning.
A study published in 2014 based on scientific evidence reveals tanning beds account for about 400,000 skin cancer risk every year including 6,000 cases of melanoma in the United States.
Compared to the figure in early 1990s, the melanoma incidence rate in women below the age of forty has increased by one-third, reveals National Cancer Institute data.
California-based advocacy and research group, AIM at Melanoma, writes at least forty states have levied restrictions of some kind on the use of tanning beds by minors and about eleven states have put complete ban of its use by people below the age of 18.
The FDA has come up with some new preventive measures proposal for the adults too that includes signing of a document understanding risks of tanning bed in salons and also protective eyewear is to be provided by the manufacturers to be worn by individual during the tanning sessions.
The Indoor Tanning Association said the new proposal may burden up their members further with additional government costs.
Meanwhile, for a period of 90 days from now comments will be flooding in from public.
