Massachusetts Anti-Tanning Salon Legislation

[Editor-in-Chief]

Lawmakers want to limit teen time under tanning lamps

BOSTON - Teens will have to take to the beaches to get that perfect summer tan if some lawmakers have their way.

Some on Beacon Hill are pushing a bill that would ban youths under 16 years-old from tanning booths and exposing themselves to ultraviolet rays at an age when they can be most harmful.

State Senator Pamela Resor's bill would also require parental consent for 16- and 17-year-olds to enter a tanning salon.

The Acton Democrat says the pressure to look tan can be dangerous to girls' health and young people are more susceptible to sunburns.

Source

[Editor-in-Chief]

Senate, No. 1329

Presented by: Senator James E. Timilty

Petition of James E. Timilty for legislation to further regulate tanning facilities.
01/10/07 S Referred to the committee on Public Health
01/10/07 H House concurred

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AN ACT FURTHER REGULATING TANNING FACILITIES

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 111 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 207, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following section: -

Section 207. For the purposes of sections two hundred and eight to two hundred and fourteen, inclusive, the following words shall, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, have the following meanings:
“Board of health” or “board”, the board of health, including the board or officer having like powers and duties in towns where there is no board of health, with jurisdiction in the community in which a tanning facility is located.
“Phototherapy device”, equipment that emits ultraviolet radiation and is used by health care professionals in the treatment of disease.
“Operator”, any trained person designated by the licensee for the facility and registered with the board of health to control the operation of a tanning facility in compliance with this act and to assist and instruct the public in the correct operation of the tanning facility and its equipment;
“Tanning device”, any equipment used for tanning the skin that emits electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths in the air between two hundred and four hundred nanometers, including, but not limited to, a tanning booth, tanning bed or sunlamp which includes high pressure tanning lamps. Tanning device shall also include any accompanying equipment, including, but not limited to, protective eyewear, timers and handrails.
“Tanning facility”, any location, place, area, structure or business which provides access to a tanning device.

SECTION 2. Said chapter 111 is hereby further amended by striking out section 208, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 208. (a) No person shall operate a tanning facility until said facility has been granted a license by the board of health. Each license granted hereunder shall expire one year from the date of its issue. The fee for each license and annual renewal thereof shall be two-hundred and fifty dollars.
(b) Applications for each license and annual renewal thereof shall be made on forms proscribed by and made available from the board. The board shall require at least the following information on the application for a permit to operate a tanning facility: name, physical address, mailing address, and telephone number of the following:
1. The tanning facility;
2. The applicant (owner[s]) of the tanning facility;
3. The manufacturer, model number, serial number, year and month of manufacture, and type of each ultraviolet lamp or piece of tanning equipment located within the facility;
4. The primary function of the business in which the tanning facility is located;
5. The geographic areas within the state to be covered, if the facility is mobile;
6. Copies of any posted warnings or other notices which are not required by this act and which address the safe or proper use of tanning equipment and protective devices;
7. Copies of consent forms and statements which consumers, parents or guardians will be required to sign pursuant to this act;
8. Names and addresses of the tanning equipment supplier(s), installer(s), operator(s), and service agent(s);
9. A copy of the operating procedures to be used in the tanning facility;
10. The hours of operation of the tanning facility;
11. The name of the on-site manager of the tanning facility; and
12. A signed and dated certification that the applicant has received, read, and understood the requirements of this act.
(c) No license granted hereunder shall be transferable from one person to another or from on tanning facility to another.
(d) The board shall inspect each tanning facility within thirty days of licensure and every six months thereafter.
(e) A tanning facility which violates the provisions of this section, sections two hundred and nine to two hundred and fourteen, inclusive, or any other applicable law, rule or regulation shall have seven days after written notice of such failure in which to comply with such provisions. The board may revoke the license of a tanning facility which fails to comply after said seven days.
(f) Any person aggrieved by a determination of the board pursuant to sections two hundred and seven to two hundred and thirteen, inclusive, may appeal to the department within twenty days of said determination. Any person, including, but not limited to, the board, aggrieved by a determination of the department may appeal said decision pursuant to the provisions of section fourteen of chapter thirty A.

SECTION 3. Section 210 of said chapter 111, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
No tanning facility shall employ a minor under eighteen as a tanning device operator or permit him operate a tanning device. A tanning facility shall register any person employed as a tanning device operator with the board within thirty days of the operators first day of employment. There shall be a one-time registration fee of twenty five dollars for each operator registered by the tanning facility. A tanning facility shall at all times during operating hours have an registered operator present who is sufficiently knowledgeable in the correct operation of the tanning devices used at the tanning facility to be able to inform and assist each customer in the proper use of such tanning devices and to provided sanitized protective eyewear and towels. No person shall use a tanning device without such protective eyewear.

SECTION 4. Said chapter 111 is hereby further amended by striking out section 211, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 211. (a) No person under the age of sixteen shall be permitted to use a tanning device.
(b) No person sixteen years of age to seventeen years of age, inclusive, shall be permitted to use a tanning device without the prior written consent of a parent or legal guardian, provided that, prior to providing written consent, said parent or guardian shall be provided with a copy of the warnings required under the provisions of section two hundred and nine, provided further, that said parent or guardian shall sign a statement in the presence of the operator acknowledging receipt and understanding of the warning statement. The operator shall sign the written consent form as a witness to the signing of the parent or guardian.

Source

PDF Version: http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/sena...df/st01329.pdf

[Editor-in-Chief]

Lawmakers want to limit teen time under tanning lamps

By David Weber, Associated Press Writer | April 1, 2007

BOSTON --Tanning booths are the latest area where teenagers need to be protected from themselves, according to lawmakers and health officials pushing legislation they say will reduce the number of new skin cancer cases.

New harsher penalties went into effect this weekend for teenage drivers who speed or drag race on public roads. Now, some on Beacon Hill want to prevent teens from recklessly exposing themselves to ultraviolet rays at an age in their lives when they can be most harmful.

The legislators are slated to testify at a hearing Thursday on a bill that would prohibit youths under 16 years old from using tanning booths and would require parental consent for 16- and 17-year-olds who want an indoor tan.

"Let's not make it so easy for young people to expose their skin to dangerous rays," said Sen. Pamela Resor, one of the bill's sponsors.

The World Health Organization says young people are more susceptible to skin damage from sunburns than are adults and recommends that no one under age 18 use tanning booths.

Prom season leads many teenagers to seek that bronzed look, said Resor, D-Acton.

"Particularly for young women, there's such pressure to look tanned and beautiful. As with eating disorders, it can be disruptive to their health. There definitely is peer pressure," she said.

Two years ago the Cape Cod town of Brewster barred anyone under 18 from using tanning beds.

Many states have passed laws or are considering legislation to prohibit or limit teens' access to tanning beds. California, Illinois, and New Jersey prohibit children under 14 from using them. In Minnesota and Mississippi, the legal minimum age for indoor tanning is 16. Colorado and North Dakota have similar bills pending, and legislation in Utah would require parental consent for minors to use tanning booths.

Nicole Haller, manager of Campus Tan near Northeastern University, said her employees ask each customer whether they burn easily and sometimes suggest alternatives to ultraviolet ray tanning.

"If people are fair-skinned, we don't recommend UV tanning. For people who burn pretty easily, we recommend spray-tanning," which she said involves spraying the person with a sugar cane extract that darkens the skin.

Bill co-sponsor Sen. James Timilty, D-Walpole, said Massachusetts has a skin cancer rate higher than the national average and said the long winters and relatively short summer season can cause people to crave the sun's rays.

"I think people get very anxious to be out in the sun. And some people also don't realize you can be exposed to harmful rays even on a cloudy day. If you can see your shadow at all, you're feeling some effects," he said.

The bill also was filed in the past legislative session, but wasn't adopted, Resor said. Enforcement of the proposed law would be handled by local boards of health.

Source

[Editor-in-Chief]

Lawmakers want to limit teen time under tanning lamps
By Associated Press
Monday, April 2, 2007 - Updated: 07:57 AM EST

BOSTON - Tanning booths are the latest area where teenagers need to be protected from themselves, according to lawmakers and health officials pushing legislation they say will reduce the number of new skin cancer cases.


New harsher penalties went into effect this weekend for teenage drivers who speed or drag race on public roads. Now, some on Beacon Hill want to prevent teens from recklessly exposing themselves to ultraviolet rays at an age in their lives when they can be most harmful.

The legislators are slated to testify at a hearing Thursday on a bill that would prohibit youths under 16 years old from using tanning booths and would require parental consent for 16- and 17-year-olds who want an indoor tan.

”Let’s not make it so easy for young people to expose their skin to dangerous rays,” said Sen. Pamela Resor, one of the bill’s sponsors.

The World Health Organization says young people are more susceptible to skin damage from sunburns than are adults and recommends that no one under age 18 use tanning booths.

Prom season leads many teenagers to seek that bronzed look, said Resor, D-Acton.

”Particularly for young women, there’s such pressure to look tanned and beautiful. As with eating disorders, it can be disruptive to their health. There definitely is peer pressure,” she said.

Two years ago the Cape Cod town of Brewster barred anyone under 18 from using tanning beds.

Many states have passed laws or are considering legislation to prohibit or limit teens’ access to tanning beds. California, Illinois, and New Jersey prohibit children under 14 from using them. In Minnesota and Mississippi, the legal minimum age for indoor tanning is 16. Colorado and North Dakota have similar bills pending, and legislation in Utah would require parental consent for minors to use tanning booths.

Nicole Haller, manager of Campus Tan near Northeastern University, said her employees ask each customer whether they burn easily and sometimes suggest alternatives to ultraviolet ray tanning.

”If people are fair-skinned, we don’t recommend UV tanning. For people who burn pretty easily, we recommend spray-tanning,” which she said involves spraying the person with a sugar cane extract that darkens the skin.

Bill co-sponsor Sen. James Timilty, D-Walpole, said Massachusetts has a skin cancer rate higher than the national average and said the long winters and relatively short summer season can cause people to crave the sun’s rays.

”I think people get very anxious to be out in the sun. And some people also don’t realize you can be exposed to harmful rays even on a cloudy day. If you can see your shadow at all, you’re feeling some effects,” he said.

The bill also was filed in the past legislative session, but wasn’t adopted, Resor said. Enforcement of the proposed law would be handled by local boards of health.

Source

[Editor-in-Chief]

Timilty bill seeks to limit teen tanning
BY SHANNON BARRINGTON FOR THE SUN CHRONICLE

Teens who want to look tanned this spring may have to find other options than a "fake bake," if local legislators have their way.

State Sen. James Timilty, D-Walpole, has refiled legislation to keep teens younger than 16 out of tanning salons. Teens who are 17 or 18 would need written parental consent to use tanning beds.

Timilty said he refiled the legislation, similar to a bill he filed last spring, because he said Massachusetts has a high rate of skin cancer and melanoma deaths, compared with the rest of the country.

He said that's especially significant, considering the state's less-than-perfect tanning weather.

"This isn't San Diego, where they have 365 days of sun a year. We're coming off a week where we barely saw the sun," Timilty said. "(There's an) 18 percent higher mortality rate here in Massachusetts. With our clouds, that's scary."

According to the National Cancer Institute, Massachusetts has a skin cancer mortality rate 18 percent above the national average. Additionally, the state has a 4 percent higher rate of melanoma diagnosis.

Timilty said one of the reasons for high skin cancer rates is people don't take precautions while in the sun.

"There isn't that conscious act of lighting a cigarette or taking a drink," he said.

Sen. Pam Resor, D-Acton, is also working on the legislation.

"One in five Americans will develop some form of skin cancer in their lives," she said. "Having five or more sunburns in your life will double your risk. This is something people can have without even being aware of it until it becomes a serious problem."

Deb Girard, executive director of the Melanoma Foundation of New England, said parents play an important role in keeping their teens safe from skin damage.

"Parents need to understand the danger. Parents often believe that going to a tanning salon is safer than going to the beach," she said.

Girard said parents often encourage their children to get "base tans" to prevent sunburns during family vacations.

"The people who get those base tans are the kids with stage one very pale skin and blond hair," she said. "That's just causing more damage."

Dermatologists rank skin types based on their coloring and tendency to burn. Stage one skin, the palest, is the most sensitive and is susceptible to sun damage.

Girard said now is an important time to teach teens about the dangers of indoor tanning.

"We are coming upon prom season and we are hoping to get parents and teenage girls to commit to not using tanning beds," she said. "One million people a year use tanning beds. Of those, 70 percent are Caucasian women between the ages of 16 and 29."

Girard said new studies show tanning is an addictive behavior. She said some people will tan from three and five times a week because they need the "boost" tanning gives them.

Girard said so-called "tanorexics" often get the worst damage as they try to live up to the celebrity standards of a "healthy tan."

"This tanning sensation goes back 30 years to (fashion designer) CoCo Chanel, who was the first person to sport the tan," Girard said.

Dr. Kathryn Bowers, president of the Massachusetts Academy of Dermatologists, said teens who want a tanned look have healthier options, such as bottle and spray tans. The products have improved in quality over the years, and she often cannot tell the difference between fake and real tans.

"I see almost no problems, whether it's an allergic reaction or toxicity, from these products," Bowers said.

Source

[Editor-in-Chief]

Bill may chill teen tanning bed use
By Jessica Fargen
Boston Herald Health & Medical Reporter


Sunday, May 27, 2007

Some dermatologists and skin cancer experts blame the rise in melanoma cases among the young on tanning beds and hope a crackdown in Massachusetts will lead to fewer teens taking such risks.


“We have a real problem,” said Dr. Marie-France Demierre of the Skin Oncology Program at Boston Medical Center, who plans to testify next month in favor of a bill that would ban anyone younger than 16 from using a tanning bed.


The bill, filed by Sen. James E. Timilty (D-Walpole), would require written parental consent for someone age 16 or 17 who wants to tan. No one under 16 could use a tanning bed. Under current law, anyone under 14 can use a tanning bed if accompanied by a parent, and teens 14 to 17 can tan with written parental permission.


“It’s a medical fact that skin damage is not only cumulative, but the majority of damage occurs before you turn 18,” Timilty said.


Representatives from the Indoor Tanning Association in Washington, D.C., plan to testify against the bill and have launched an online letter-writing campaign to defeat it.


John Overstreet, executive director of the association, said the Massachusetts law would be one of the country’s most restrictive.


“It takes away a basic right of a parent to decide whether his or her child gets a suntan. We definitely think that’s unnecessary,” said Overstreet, who sees no link between skin cancer and tan beds.


Deb Girard, director of the Massachusetts Melanoma Foundation, said studies show using a tanning bed increases risk for melanoma and other skin cancers, and it’s hard for teens to resist promotions and peer pressure “that make it look like a good thing to do.”


“We are starting to see that tanning can be an addictive thing; people don’t go to a tanning bed once,” Girard said.

Source

[Editor-in-Chief]

Debate heats up on bill to ban teen tanning



BOSTON -- Should teenagers be allowed to use tanning beds?
A proposed bill would require parental consent for anyone 16 or 17 using a tanning bed. Based on the plan, anyone under 16-years-old wouldn't be allowed to use one.

Melanoma, or skin cancer, is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women aged 25 to 29.

Experts believe that there's a direct link between the rise of melanoma deaths in young women and the use of tanning beds.

[Editor-in-Chief]

Glenna Kohl, 24, of Barnstable, who has Stage 4 melanoma, says she didn’t know the dangers of tanning when she first used a bed at age 15. (Staff photo by Angela Rowlings)


Debate heats up on bill to freeze teen tanning
By Jessica Fargen
Boston Herald Health & Medical Reporter
Thursday, June 14, 2007 - Updated: 04:19 AM EST

A controversial plan to outlaw anyone under age 16 from using a tanning bed has melanoma patients, skin doctors and salon owners debating how young is too young to tan inside and just how dangerous is it.

Glenna Kohl, 24, who has Stage 4 melanoma that has spread to her brain and abdomen, said she used her first tanning bed at age 15. She told the joint Public Health Committee yesterday that she wishes she knew then what she knows now.

“I didn’t really know anything about them, except that I wanted to get a tan for a dance,” said the Cape Cod woman who wore a pink bandana over her bald head. “I wish every day I had heard a story similar to mine.”

Melanoma is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women ages 25 to 29, and overall the deadliest form of skin cancer. Some melanoma experts believe there’s a direct link between the rising rate of melanoma in young women and tanning beds, although the tanning bed industry disputes that.

The bill, filed by Sen. James E. Timilty (D-Walpole), would require written parental consent for anyone age 16 or 17 who wants to tan. No one under 16 could use a tanning bed. Under current law, anyone under 14 can use a tanning bed if accompanied by a parent. Teens 14 to 17 can tan with written parental permission.

“We have an epidemic of tanning bed use in the U.S.,” said Dr. Alan Geller, a Boston University dermatologist.

Jerry Frank, CEO of Cosmedico, a Weymouth company that makes tanning bed parts, said the state’s tanning industry already has “regulations on top of regulations.”

“This is a parental decision,” he said.

Steve Going, who owns two tanning salons in Worcester, worries it will hurt small tanning salons that already get a bad rap.

“Bills like this not only are unfair, but hurt me very much as a businessman,” he said.


- jfargen@bostonherald.com

[JustTans23]

does anyone know if this law has passed, or if they are still talking about it, after the initial reaction to it i haven't heard much about it since