News
Missouri bill recommends outlawing use of tanning beds for young teens
January 23, 2018
JEFFERSON CITY — One state representative hopes to outlaw the use of tanning beds by younger teenagers.
O'Fallon Republican Rep. Nick Schroer said parental consent simply is not good enough.
It's been almost five years since California, Missouri resident Emily Messerli lost her 36-year-old husband, Kelly, to melanoma skin cancer.
She said he was a tanning bed user as a teenager.
"Kelly was the father of three children," Emily Messerli said. "He was my husband. He was a son, a brother, an uncle and friends to many, many people."
Medical experts said tanning beds hit the user with 5-15 times the ultraviolet intensity of sunlight. They said 10 minutes in a tanning bed is equivalent to an hour under the sun.
The UV produced by tanning beds adds to the damage that can lead to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) the second-most common form of skin cancer, according to SkinCancer.org.
One instance of such exposure from a tanning bed increases the overall risk of skin cancer.
"The plain and simple facts are that indoor tanning devices cause cancer," Rebecca Chibnall, Washington University dermatologist said.
The World Health Organization classifies tanning beds as a carcinogen, the same classification given to smoking tobacco. This means that there is sufficient evidence to conclude these devices cause cancer.
Tanning beds can also cause premature aging, immune suppression and eye damage, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
In surveys, nearly one-third of Missouri teens admit to tanning bed use, double the national average. A state law passed in 2014 requires written parental consent for anyone under 18.
Rep. Nick Schroer said that consent is not acceptable for drinking or smoking, and should not be for tanning.
"Missouri is clearly going in the wrong direction in this arena," he said. "And it is costing the state millions of dollars in avoidable health care costs."
The advocates offered polling results indicating Missouri voters consider teen tanning a significant problem.
Fifteen states, including Kansas and Oklahoma, along with Washington D.C., now prohibit the use of tanning beds by teenagers.