National report — With the rate of skin cancers on the rise among the general population, public health organizations, doctors and state lawmakers are mounting increasing efforts to regulate use of tanning salons by young people.

As of press time, 21 states had introduced legislation this year that would newly restrict the indoor tanning industry or strengthen existing laws. Twenty-nine states already have laws on the books regulating tanning by minors, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

"In reality, there is no such thing as a 'safe tan,'" says Arielle Kauvar, M.D., F.A.A.D., a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), which opposes indoor tanning and supports efforts to ban minors from using indoor devices.

Industry response

The tanning industry is fighting back, with a barrage of public relations efforts — and a pointed response to the AAD's position.

"For a group that advocates using needles to inject botulism into a person's face, you have to wonder how they can criticize something as natural as ultraviolet light," says John Overstreet, executive director of the Indoor Tanning Association (ITA).

Melanoma on the rise

Health officials are alarmed at adolescents' frequent use of tanning salons, which they believe may be a factor in the spike in skin-cancer rates among youths, especially young women in their teens and 20s.

In 2008, the National Cancer Institute reported that between 1980 and 2004, a 50 percent increase in invasive cutaneous melanoma was seen among Caucasian women in the United States.

Melanoma is the most common form of skin cancer for young adults 25 to 29 years of age, and the second-most-common form for adolescents and young adults ages 15 to 29, according to the AAD.

Government response

Since 2005, the World Health Organization has recommended that no one under the age of 18 should use tanning beds, because overexposure to broad-spectrum ultraviolet (UV) radiation could lead to basal cell or squamous cell skin cancers and more dangerous melanomas.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has also declared UV radiation from the sun or from artificial sources such as tanning beds to be a known carcinogen, and the American Cancer Society has predicted that more than 1 million new cases of skin cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year.

Lawmakers act

Concerned state lawmakers are seeking ways to enforce recommendations from WHO and other organizations that oppose use of tanning beds by minors.

In March, Texas legislators proposed what supporters have called the strictest legislation on teen tanning of any state.

The Texas bill would require anyone under the age of 18 to present a doctor's note to use a tanning bed, and to have written consent from and be accompanied by a parent.

In April, Ohio revived a proposal to bar people under the age of 18 from using tanning facilities unless they present a prescription for UV radiation treatments from a licensed physician.

Ohio House Bill 173 would replace a current law that requires only written permission from a parent or guardian.

Arkansas and Mississippi each passed legislation in the spring mandating signed parental consent for minors, a requirement common with most current state laws.

Wisconsin already prohibits any child under age 16 from using tanning devices, while Illinois, New Jersey and New York prohibit children under 14 from tanning.