If you are planning to go tanning in the near future, be prepared for new warnings that are to be placed near those UV lamps. The United States Food and Drug Administration announced that the new requirements will be required of all tanning salons to inform users of the dangers of fake baking.
The new moves are part of the FDA's ongoing effort to make tanning beds safer for the general population. However, the move for warnings still comes up short of implementing a nationwide ban on the use of those beds for teenagers.
The goal is to ban the use of tanning for minors, similar to the ban in place for tobacco.
"The FDA has taken an important step today to address the risk to public health from sunlamp products," Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, says in a statement announcing the moves. "Repeated UV exposure from sunlamp products poses a risk of skin cancer for all users."
The reason for the warning labels is the use of UV lamps in tanning beds, which the FDA says should carrying a warning to users on the potential skin cancer risks. The new labels will be required to be placed on any lamp and tanning bed as well as on websites, brochures or other instructional material or promotion material.
The FDA continued that the repeated use of tanning by UV radiation is dangerous to people and that prolonged use is a precursor to skin cancer.
The use of tanning beds has also been moved up to "moderate risk" from its previous status as "low-risk." Manufacturers will be required to ensure their products meet testing standards and that a number of elements in their designs meet FDA clearance before they can sell their goods to tanning salons.
"The FDA's decision to more strictly regulate tanning beds will save lives," Tim Turnham, executive director of the nonprofit Melanoma Research Foundation, said in a statement. "Now, it's critical for every parent, family physician, schoolteacher and public health advocate to promote greater understanding of the grave risk people, especially young people, take when they enter a tanning bed."
In many states, minors are required to get parental permission before they are allowed to use the beds. The FDA is pushing forward on its goal of informing the public on the dangers and risk of cancer in using tanning beds.
