Milford State Senator Co-Sponsors Teen Tanning Bill

This is a press release.

A new law supported by State Senator Gayle S. Slossberg (D-Milford) will prohibit individuals under the age of seventeen from using indoor tanning devices.

Sen. Slossberg applauded Governor Dannel P. Malloy Friday as he held a ceremonial bill signing for Public Act No. 13-79.

“This law protects teens from the dangers of early exposure to UV radiation,” said Sen. Slossberg, Vice Chair of the Public Health Committee and co-sponsor of the legislation. “Teens may be unaware of the consequences they can face later on in life if they tan indoors at an early age. This policy aims to reverse the current trend, and help decrease the high incidence of skin cancer in young people.”

Previous law banned tanning facilities from letting anyone less than seventeen years of age use tanning devices without written consent from a parent or guardian. The new policy toughens the law by removing the language permitting tanning with parental or guardian written consent.

Skin cancer—melanoma, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma—is the most common form of cancer in the country. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 1,080 Connecticut residents will be diagnosed with melanoma in 2013.

Researchers have shown that exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation can cause cancer, and that childhood and adolescent exposure to UV radiation drastically increases the risk of skin cancer in adulthood.

A recent study from the Yale School of Public Health on basal cell carcinoma (this cancer includes 80 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers) concluded that those who use indoor tanning devices are 69 percent more likely to develop early onset basal cell carcinoma.

Likewise, in 2007 the International Journal of Cancer published a meta-analysis (a review of 19 studies) showing an increase in the risk for melanoma for those who started using indoor tanning facilities in their teens or twenties. The meta-analysis concluded that using indoor tanning facilities before age 35 increases the risk of melanoma by 75 percent