Prohibits the operation of tanning facilities, and the sale or offering for sale of tanning beds; repealer

Section 2. Repeals section 392-g of the general business law.

Existing law

Section 3551 of the public health law requires an operator of a tanning facility to have a license.

Section 3552 of the public health law relates to the conditions causing annulment, suspension, or revocation of the license of a tanning facility operator.

Section 3553 of the public health law relates to the collection of fees with and their deposit in the ultraviolet radiation devices program account within the special revenue fund.

Section 3554 of the public health law provides for the rights of the commissioner including but not limited to the right to inspect each tanning facility, collect a biennial fee for inspection, and promulgate rules and regulations related to hygiene, safety, and dissemination of information.

Section 3555 of the public health law restricts the use of ultraviolet radiation devices to individuals eighteen years of age or older who have signed a written consent that they acknowledge the warnings of using such a device and agree to wear safety goggles as prescribed by law. It further provides that no owner, operator, or employee of a tanning facility shall permit the use of an ultraviolet radiation device by a person fourteen to eighteen years of without written consent by his/her legal guardian. Such consent also includes an acknowledgement of the aforementioned warnings. The law provides for expiration of such consent forms and completely bans the use of ultraviolet radiation devices by persons under the age of fourteen.

Section 392-g of the general business law relates to the sale of ultraviolet radiation devices. It restricts the offer for sale of any ultraviolet radiation device, be it in a tanning facility or for personal use, without a conspicuous label with a warning stating the health hazards associated with tanning. The law requires that each device must be accompanied with safety goggles and an easy to use on/off switch. Civil penalties are provided for any violation of the requirements set forth in the section.

Justification

Per the American Cancer Society (ACS), people ages thirty-five or younger who used tanning beds regularly had a melanoma risk eight-times higher than people who never used tanning beds. Further, according to the ACS, occasional use resulted in almost a triple chance of developing melanoma over one's lifetime. The American Academy of Dermatology Association (AADA) reports that melanoma is the most common form of cancer for young adults between the ages of twenty-five and twenty-nine years old and the second most common form of cancer for adolescents and young adults ages fifteen to twenty-nine years old. In fact, the AADA indicates that using tanning beds before the age of thirty-five increases one's risk for melanoma by seventy five percent.

On an average day in the United States, the AADA reports that more than one million people tan in tanning salons and nearly seventy percent are girls and women. In these large tanning salons, tanning beds have UVA irradiation intensity that can be ten to fifteen times higher than that of the midday sun. In a study conducted by the AADA, the density of indoor tanning salons in the top one hundred and sixteen cities in the United States amounted to a mean number of facilities equaling 41.8. It was noted that seventy-six percent of teenagers in the cities studied lived within two miles of a tanning salon.

Given the significant health risks associated with tanning beds and the widespread availability of them, it is imperative that New York State address access to such equipment in order to ensure the health and safety of our citizens.

Legislative history

None.

Fiscal implications

Undetermined.

Local fiscal implications

Undetermined.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.