The Ban on the Tan: Prohibiting Minors from Using Indoor Tanning Devices

• Date: 01 October 2013
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12062
• Author: Reema Sultan
• Published date: 01 October 2013

STUDENT NOTES

THE BAN ON THE TAN: PROHIBITING MINORS FROM

USING INDOOR TANNING DEVICES

Reema Sultan

There has been an influx of medical research studies that prove the correlation between the exposure to ultraviolet (UV)

radiation via tanning devices and the increased risk for skin cancer,par ticularlyin younger people. Several health organizations

have givenstrong recommendations against the use of these devices. These recommendations and scientific data have not been

enough to sway every state to completely prohibit the use of indoor tanning devices for minors, and there are millions of

Americans exposing themselves to radiation that can potentially havedire or deadly results. To protect minors under the age of

eighteen, states should impose an overall ban on minors using tanning devices as any less stringent regulation is insufficient.

This Note discusses the risk of indoor tanning devices, strong influences that both promote indoor tanning among the youth and

hamper change in state regulations, insufficiencies in current state statutes, and the need for an overall ban for minors and

stricter regulation of tanning facilities.

Keypoints for the Family Court Community

• The link between increased risk of skin cancer, particularly in younger people, and using indoor tanning devices(with

UV radiation) has been established.

• Some states have inadequate tanning regulations that do not deter minors while other states have not yet addressed

indoor tanning among minors.

• There are strong outside influences which promote indoor tanning despite the publicly known risks.

• It is necessary for states to impose an overall ban for minors and heavilyregulate tanning facilities, as this is the safest

method to protect young citizens from the dangers.

Keywords: IndoorTanning;Minors;Overall Ban;Skin Cancer;State Statute;TanningBeds;and Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation.

I. INTRODUCTION

Brittany was all set for prom.1All she needed was a sun-kissed glow to go with her white dress.2

At seventeen, she began going to the tanning salon once a week for eight-minute sessions.3About two

and a half years later, Brittany was going four to five times a week for twenty-minute sessions.4She

had become a “tanorexic” and could not be dark enough.5Brittany went to her physician after a mole

on her back had enlarged and started to bleed; she was diagnosed with stage two melanoma.6

“I was devastated. . . .After my diagnosis, and during all of those surgeries, I kept thinking how I wished

I had listened to my mom. I want teens to know how preventable skin cancer is and that avoiding tanning

is key. I didn’t have to tan, I chose to and I nearly paid with my life. Since my diagnosis, I learned that I

was one of more than 1 million people in the U.S. diagnosed with skin cancer each year. And every hour

and every day, someone dies from it. . . . Tanning is not healthyand it is not necessar y. So if you feel that

you need to be tan to look good, ask yourself how scars all over your body would look.”7

From prom dress to pre-cancerous lesions, Brittany’s battle with skin cancer has been arduous,

leaving her to endure more than twenty-four surgeries and a seven-inch scar across her back.8Brittany

Correspondence: rsultan89@gmail.com

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 51 No. 4, October 2013 712–726

© 2013 Association of Familyand Conciliation Cour ts