In the wake of new evidence that tanning beds increase melanoma risk in young people, the FDA proposed a new warning label for all tanning beds to dissuade use by minors.
The order would require all manufacturers to place a warning label on tanning beds and promotional material warning of danger to minors. This would be similar to the agency’s regulation of messaging on cigarette cartons, but it marks a new step to regulate sunlamps as a higher-risk device.
This labeling measure reflects growing concerns about the prevalence of melanoma in young people aged 25 to 29. There is mounting evidence that tanning beds are linked to melanoma, the most deadly skin cancer, according to healthcare regulators.
The warning label initiative would likely not take effect for 2 years, but if put in place it would compel manufacturers to place warning labels on all devices within 1 year. Manufacturers plan to lobby Congress on this, alongside attempts to repeal an excise tax on the tanning salon industry.
This move does not mean an outright ban of all tanning bed use by minors, but some states have already taken that step and the FDA has said it would consider an outright ban in the future.
"Nothing is off the table," said Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA’s device division, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “We view this as a 1st step."
In 2011, The Journal of Pediatrics chided the use of tanning beds by minors, saying teens should be discouraged from indoor tanning.
