FDA takes action on tanning beds

Silver Spring, MD – The Food and Drug Administration has approved new regulations and warning labels for “sunlamp” products such as tanning beds and tanning booths.

FDA’s action, which is scheduled to go into effect Sept. 2, will require manufacturers to include warning labels emphasizing that the products should not be used by anyone younger than 18. Manufacturers also must obtain FDA clearance before marketing the products, which emit UV radiation that may cause skin cancer.

In addition, FDA reclassified sunlamp products from “low-risk” (class I) to “moderate-risk” (class II) devices. The agency’s final order was years in the making, following a panel of experts that first convened in 2010 and a public comment period that opened in May 2013.

According to the American Academy of Dermatology, people who have been exposed to UV radiation from indoor tanning have a 59 percent higher risk of melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer. The risk increases with each additional exposure, experts say.