You’d have a hard time identifying me as someone who grew up in Hawaii because I’m about as pale as they come. Maybe it was because of where I grew up that I knew about skin cancer and did my best to avoid overexposure to the sun. One thing I’ve never even considered using is a tanning bed, not really wanting to get up close and personal with radiation any more than I need to. But, unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there who do, which is why it’s great to hear that a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel wants tougher controls on tanning beds.
According to Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s blog on CNN, the panel heard from experts that tanning beds are especially dangerous for young people, a group that tanning bed advertising seems to be geared toward these days. One of the suggested moves was banning the devices for those under the age of 18. Also, the panel wants warning labels on the machines or at the salons themselves, letting people know of the dangers. And, with the machines currently categorized as “low-risk devices,” it’s possible that classification could change so that tanning beds would then have to emit less radiation.
The article notes that the World Health Organization has put ultraviolet tanning beds in the same cancer risk category as arsenic and cigarettes, which happens to be the highest risk category, so one would think that the FDA will take the advisory panel’s recommendations to heart. The article mentions that the FDA traditionally follows the panel’s advice, so we should hopefully hear about the changes in the coming months.
Photo by mag3737 via Flickr.