Regulatory & Legislative Issues

Unfortunately, a number of bills affecting the indoor tanning industry were passed in 2007 and became effective.

New European tanning regulations went into effect July 23, 2007. The European Commission of Health and Consumer Services approved the overly protective law, mandating that the erythema weighted irradiance of tanning beds cannot exceed 0.3W/m^2.

This means that the tanning exposure time schedule, which has been reduced due to the evolution of more powerful lamps, needs to be amended and exposure schedules increased to the 20-minute range. The new rules require all tanning equipment manufacturers to make future beds and standups to meet these regulations. Tanning units already in the market will have to change their lamps, filter glass, ballasts and other secondary components to be in compliance.

Some industry insiders question whether the U.S. dermatology community will make a concerted attempt to force the FDA to adopt the European standards.

Fortunately, the FDA’s Erythemal Action Spectrum (EAS) has served the clients of indoor tanning salons in the United States well since 1986 and the industry has a good safety record. Based upon 15 years of data received from the FDA, there was only one complaint made for every 100 million commercial indoor tanning sessions. One reason the U.S. safety record is so exemplary is because of the high degree of professionalism exhibited by the owners/operators of commercial indoor tanning salons.

The Tanning Accountability and Notification (TAN) Act was signed into law Sept. 27, 2007 as part of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Amendments of 2007. Under the terms of the law, the FDA must conduct consumer testing to determine if the current text and positioning requirements of warning labels on tanning devices provides sufficient information on the risks of using tanning equipment. The FDA also will determine if modifying the current label to read "ultraviolet radiation can cause skin cancer" or adding any other warning would convey the risk of skin cancer more effectively.

These findings must be reported to the U.S. Congress within the next year; that report also must include a description of the measures the FDA is taking to significantly reduce the risks associated with indoor tanning devices.

The current FDA warning label has not changed since 1979 and states that exposure "may cause skin cancer," which proponents of the TAN Act say inadequately conveys the understanding of the link between ultraviolet (UV) exposure and skin cancer. In addition, proponents say that the current positioning requirement dictating that the warning label be placed on tanning equipment is ineffective because the label is commonly placed on the top of bed lids—which are often propped open—and therefore, can be overlooked by users.

Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Ginny Brown-Waite introduced the TAN Act (HR 4767) in February 2007 amid an influx of proposed anti-tanning legislation at the state level.