TANNING BED BILL Senate Passes Tanning Bed Bill
Reported by: Dave Benton
Videographer: Kenney Barnette
Web Producer: Dave Benton
Reported: Mar. 18, 2013 9:38 PM EDT
Updated: Mar. 19, 2013 10:52 AM EDT
EYEWITNESS ONLINE WEBCAST VIDEO C L I C K T O P L A Y
Huntington
, Cabell County
, West Virginia
Young people who like going to tanning salons might soon have to find an alternative to bronze their bodies. The West Virginia Senate passed a bill that would prohibit anyone under age 18 from going to tanning bed parlors.
Dr. Elaine Young, a dermatologist in Huntington says, "This is an exciting breakthrough for dermatology. If you get a blistering sunburn before age 18, it can promote a skin cancer."
Young says she's had patients who have died from melanoma. That's why the Senate is pushing to regulate who is allowed to go to a tanning bed. The bill not only prohibits anyone under 18 years old from tanning, other must sign a consent form warning them that using tanning beds can cause skin cancer and other health risks.
Justin Farley is a tanning consultant at iTan 24/7 in Huntington where teens need parental consent before tanning. Farley says the proposed bill is fair and he says minors should be kept safe from the hazards of tanning. But, for adults it should be a choice. "If you think it's bad for you, don't do it. same thing as smoking. You can go to Speedway and buy cigarettes it's exactly like that."
Dr. Young says the UVA rays emitted from a tanning bed penetrate deeper and damage the DNA of cells over a period of time and can end up looking pretty bad. "We do have evidence that shows tanning beds as well as sun burns and chronic sun exposure especially early, that people get melanoma that way."
Even though the bill passed in the Senate, the House is now taking up the bill. If changes are made, it will go back to the Senate for approval.
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Dave Benton
