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FARMINGTON, Utah (AP) -- The Davis County Board of Health is moving toward banning teenagers from using commercial tanning beds.
The board voted 6-to-1 Tuesday to bring to a public hearing a proposed regulation that would ban minors from using commercial tanning salons. A hearing date has not been scheduled.
"We don't allow parents to take their children into bars and drink because of the health risks," said Health Department Director Lewis Garrett, a nonvoting member of the board. "I think the risk here rises to that level."
Exposure to ultraviolet radiation, the cause of tans whether from the sun or tanning beds, is linked to skin cancer, sight damage and wrinkles, and the risk is greater for youths than for adults, Garrett said.
Dr. Warren Butler cast the dissenting vote, saying, "This is not a long-term solution to the problem. I think a better solution is education."
Butler said he would support a regulation that required parental consent for teens to use the tanning beds.
Tanning salon owners said a ban won't keep minors out from under the lights.
"All the kids are going to do is go to Salt Lake to tan," said Christina Kourbelas, owner of Body Perfect in Bountiful.
"In the summertime, they'll just go outside with some baby oil on ... and it's not going to be in a controlled environment," she said.
Kourbelas, whose customers are about 20 percent minors, said she supports the other parts of the regulation, which also sets guidelines for sanitation, permitting, advertising and safety.
Dr. Charles Harpe, a Layton physician and board member, said exposure to the radiation is cumulative and the negative effects are not immediate.
He said children are not capable of making decisions about their long-term health.
Brian Moser, owner of Tanning Oasis in Layton and Roy, said the decision should be left to parents -- not the government.
"By taking it out of the parents' hands, they are taking away one of the greatest and best tools a parent has to protect their child from sunburn," he said.
Getting a tan in measured doses from a tanning bed is safer than risking a blistering burn from the sun while on vacation or at the swimming pool, said Moser, who stands to lose up to 30 percent of his clients if the regulation is approved.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
