Bill would limit use of tanning beds to adults
It’s the time of year when 16-year-old Christine Barta likes to head to the tanning salon so she can darken her skin a little before putting on a bathing suit.
It’s a strategy, however, that could be ending soon as state lawmakers consider a bill that would prohibit the use of tanning salons for anyone under 18 unless approved by a doctor. The bill is currently in its early stages and has not yet reached the House floor.
“I’m tanning responsibly,” said Christine, who was at Florida Sun Tanning Salon on the East Side with her mother for a short session recently. Pamela Barta said she will cut the session short if she thinks her daughter is staying in the tanning bed too long.
As it stands now, customers younger than 18 need a parent’s permission to hop into a tanning bed.
The tanning industry opposes the stricter proposal.
“This ban would really have a devastating effect,” said Tan Pro owner Rob Quinn, who estimated it would cut the company’s annual revenue by 15 percent.
According to a 2011 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey, 13 percent of high-school students reported using a sun bed one or more times during a span of 12 months.
Ohio has the most tanning salons in the country, according to Joe Levy, scientific adviser for the American Suntanning Association. There are about 14,000 tanning salons in the U.S., and the Ohio State Board of Cosmetology oversees more than 1,600 permits for tanning facilities.
Tanning salons support $5 billion in U.S. annual economic activity, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
The association and several tanning-salon companies estimate that shops would lose 10 to 15 percent in annual revenue if the bill becomes law.
“For some salons, that could be the difference between profit revenue or make-or-break mark,” Levy said.
The equipment is expensive. Tanning beds typically cost about $6,000, and tanning booths generally cost about $8,000, although some higher-end ones cost $45,000.
Younger customers do not represent a significant amount of business at Tan Pro USA, which has 40 salons in Ohio, but the company reports that they generally buy more-expensive single sessions than packages, which offer more visits at a discount from the single-session price. Individual sessions range from $7 to $14, and monthly or yearly packages range from $50 to more than $500.
Serah Shaw, 24, a regular customer at Tan Pro in Clintonville, said she used to tan regularly when she was in high school.
“It kind of became an addiction,” she said, describing how young women compete for the darkest tan.
Thinking back on that routine and the potential effects — wrinkles and skin cancer among them — she said a tanning ban for young people might not be a bad idea.
Not everyone feels the same way. Susan Newton, of Dublin, testified at the Statehouse recently against the bill that she said would take away her right as a parent to allow her daughter to go tanning.
“I really wanted to focus on the parents’ rights to assist their children in making decisions,” she told The Dispatch.
Under the bill, underage tanners wouldn’t be the ones punished. The penalties would be levied against salon owners, who could face fines up to $1,500 and have their licenses revoked. Also, owners who knowingly allow an underage teen to use the tanning beds could face up to two months in jail.
Crista Payne, the manager at Florida Sun Tanning, has allowed her 6-year-old to get a salon “ base tan” before going to Mexico, with the idea that it would help the child avoid sunburn later.
The medical world has opposed the use of tanning beds except for medical conditions, with the American Cancer Society saying those who use such beds are as much as 75 percent more likely than others to develop skin cancer. And tanning salons last year received additional negative publicity from the case of New Jersey woman Patricia Krentcil, who came under scrutiny after being accused of taking her then 5-year-old into a tanning bed.
Tanning salons sometimes take steps to ensure that their clients are informed and use the beds sensibly.
At Tan Pro, inexperienced tanning customers have to answer questions before they use a tanning bed, providing information about how they tan and their skin and hair color. They have to show a certain level of awareness or they will be turned away, a policy Quinn said the store enforces.
“What’s done in here is responsible,” he said.
Customers also have to scan their fingerprint to register with the Tan Pro computer system. This prevents people from visiting the different salons and tanning multiple times a day. Most salons have a one-tan-a-day limit.
Ohio isn’t the only state that has sought to limit tanning. Other states have banned minors from tanning, including California, Nevada, Oregon, Texas and Vermont.
Even with a ban, said John Adams, manager of five Sun Spot Tanning salons, nothing can stop people from spending hours in the sun.
Adams isn’t concerned about the effects the potential ban would have on his location on Ohio State University’s campus because most of the clientele is older than 18. But he’s worried about losing revenue at two salons he owns in southern Ohio, where a third of the business comes from customers younger than 18.
“It’s unfortunate what is happening, but it is what it is,” Adams said.
