New rules for teen tans and tattoos put before CRD 'Perpetual summer' of tanning salons cited as a cancer culprit Cindy E. HarnettTimes Colonist
July 21, 2005
Tanning beds and tattoo parlours could soon be off-limits for Victoria teens who want to alter their skin with a splash of colour.
Bylaws recommended by the Capital Regional District's health facilities committee Wednesday would ban anyone under 18 from using tanning salons, and those under 16 from being tattooed without parental consent.
If the new rules are approved by the CRD board this fall, Victoria will be the first city in B.C. to require that sunbed clients be 18 or older, although Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have similar legislation.
Establishments that violate the bylaws would initially be slapped with a $100 ticket, but flagrant violations could net fines of up to $5,000.
Dr. Richard Stanwick, Vancouver Island's chief medical health officer, had pushed for the tanning salon ban because of the skin-cancer risk to younger teens. "As you increase the amount of [ultraviolet radiation] exposure, you increase the earlier development, and you increase the risk of serious cancers," said Stanwick, who previously led the charge for Victoria to become Canada's first smoke-free city. "Since we know 70 per cent of the damage to an individual's skin occurs before the age of 18, what we are really looking at is a way to keep that burden down."
The World Health Organization advised in March that no one under 18 should use tanning beds. In the U.S., 26 states set limits on who can use tanning salons.
Tanning bed users are 2.5 times more likely to develop squamous cell skin cancer and 1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell skin cancer than non-users, said Stanwick. About 10,000 skin cancers are diagnosed in B.C. each year.
Only about 10 per cent of the region's 35 tanning facilities require younger clients to obtain parental permission. At least one, Sunspa Tanning Studio at Fort Street and Oak Bay Avenue, is required by its insurance company to limit clients to those 19 or older. Stanwick said insurance companies may take more interest in tanning salons in the coming years.
"With the use of salons, you are definitely going to push the percentage of overall skin damage up into levels that basically are not acceptable."
While teens who want to tan are still free to bake on a beach for hours, the Island's climate means they can only do that for about three months, Stanwick said.
"These tanning salons create a perpetual summer."
The irony, he said, is that tanning's popularity is likely based on TV celebrities who, for the most part, get their colour from "chemicals in a bottle" -- self-tanning products.
The tanning bylaw will also include a public education component and spell out proper sanitary practices -- including suggesting clients bring their own goggles.
The tattoo bylaw replaces a bylaw from 1978. While the industry has regulated itself, the rules have not been updated since the '70s, before the rise of AIDS and hepatitis C.
Tattoos aren't as dangerous to teens as tans, Stanwick said, but the decision to permanently alter one's appearance -- or absorb the costly removal process later on -- requires some maturity.
The health facilities committee, which comprises mayors and councillors, suggested younger teens should be allowed to get tattoos with parental consent.
The CRD board is due to consider the bylaws in early September. A final decision, following public consultation, is expected in early October.
ceharnett@tc.canwest.com © Times Colonist (Victoria) 2005