Tanning salons lament new law

Tanning beds now off limits to non-adults

Hello 2012.

Goodbye tan teenagers in the dead of winter.

A new state law bans minors from indoor tanning, putting a mid-January glow in adult territory alongside smoking, voting and enlisting in the military.

Previously, indoor tanners 14 to 17 needed parental consent, while those under 14 were prohibited from exposing their young flesh to the deep penetrating UVA radiation emitted by tanning beds, which studies show dramatically increase the risk of skin cancer.

Yvette Carpenter is the owner of Sun Seekers, which operates four tanning beds in Crescent City. She said that the ban will “absolutely affect our business,” estimating as much as 35 percent of her clients during peak “tanning seasons” were high school girls, who came in droves before the winter formal in January and the prom in May.

Not only did teens tan at Sun Seekers, they worked there.

“That little girl is no longer going to have a job,” Carpenter said of a part-time employee she usually brings on to handle the seasonal rush.

Sun Seekers may weather the teen-free gray days of winter better than some.

“Tanning is just a little part of our business. I knew you had to be diverse in a small town to make it,” Carpenter said, adding that the tanning keeps a steady stream of young clients coming through the front door and past all the merchandise, four or five times a week.

The two tanning beds at Beauty Secrets salon generate a third of the revenue, according to owner Irene Contreras. As much as 50 percent of her tanning clients were teenage girls, she said.

Contreras was certain the ban would impact her business, but she doubts it’s really going to stop teens from tanning.

“Teenagers are going to do it anyway. They are going to find a way to do it. It’s better if it’s monitored,” she said.

“I don’t see it being a high priority here at the sheriff's department,” Commander Bill Steven said of the new law.

Tanning is a big industry for small businesses. The Indoor Tanning Association estimates there are 19,000 salons nationwide with 160,000 employees, according to U.S. Census data.

“It’s an outrageous intrusion of government into business and parents,” said John Overstreet, a spokesman for the Indoor Tanning Association.

Carpenter said tanning in moderation can have numerous mental and physical benefits, especially in the fog of a North Coast winter.

“For the government to be able to decide a parent’s job — wow. What’s next?” she said.

There is one loophole in the new law — teens can tan with a doctor’s prescription.

Dermatology certified nurse practitioner Anna Carlisle in Eureka isn’t likely to sign off on any prom-related passes, however. She’s certain that indoor tanning causes skin cancer.

“There is no safe tanning,” she said. “There’s no doubt. Facts are facts.”

A Yale School of Public Health study published this month found that young people who tanned on indoor beds had a 69 percent increased chance of getting early-onset basal cell carcinoma.

“If I have a 50 percent chance of winning the lottery I’d probably buy a ticket. That’s really significant,” Carlisle said, noting that those who start tanning regularly before age 30 have a 75-percent higher risk of skin cancer.

“That’s just such bad marketing on tanning beds. Years ago when I was kid if someone told me you could have sued the tobacco company for getting cancer I would have laughed at them, but the same thing is going to happen with tanning bed companies,” she said.

Contreras and Carpenter both suspected that the demand for spray-tans will spike as the high school winter formal draws near.

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