Senators mull bill that would ban anyone under 18 from using commercial tanning beds

A Senate Medical Affairs Subcommittee chose to carry over the bill to their next meeting

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — A group of Senators listened to testimony from people concerning House Bill 3807, which if passed, would ban anyone under the age of 18 from using a commercial tanning bed.

The bill is now in the hands of a Senate Medical Affairs Subcommittee, which voted along party lines to keep working on the bill until it’s ready to be sent to the full committee. 

Several people, ranging from doctors to public health experts to melanoma survivors, testified Thursday morning, explaining the impact of skin cancer on their lives.

Madison Newton, a student at the University of South Carolina, said she used to go to tanning beds often starting in seventh grade. It was during a dermatologist visit during her junior year of high school where she learned news that would change her life.

Her diagnosis: pre-cancerous melanoma. Even though she went through procedures to treat her condition, Madison says she still lives with a daily reminder.

“You just don’t think it would happen to you,” Newton said. “I left with a scar, luckily, so I didn’t have to technically live with it, but now I live with the scar.”

The American Cancer Society says 1 in 13 high school girls use tanning beds.

With a growing number of melanoma cases across the state, some doctors chalk most cases up to one cause: exposure to artificial sunlight.

“By far the major cause of melanoma and other related skin cancers is ultraviolet radiation. That could come from the sun or artificial sources like tanning beds, and the evidence is strong and irrefutable that tanning beds are a strong, causal factor with these skin cancers,” said Dr. Anthony Alberg, an Epidemiologist with the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina.

However, some say preventing high school students from using tanning beds would prevent them from learning about sunburn safely.

“For those who elect to incorporate sun into their lives would be to take away probably the best option out of the equation. 78% of people are burning outdoors. What this hurts is our ability to communicate the correct message that sunburn prevention is what she should be teaching, not sun abstinence,” said Joseph Levy, the Director of Scientific Affairs for the American Suntanning Association.

As lawmakers weigh the future of artificial tanning for people under the age of 18, Madison says she doesn’t want to see someone else go through a fight for their life just to be tan.

“You think it’s a confidence boost, you think being tan means being beautiful, and there’s so many more statistics that shows how bad it is for you,” Newton said.

House Bill 3807, also known as the “Teen Skin Cancer Prevention Act”, was sponsored in the House by Rep. Raye Felder (R-York County), Rep. Beth Bernstein (D-Richland County), and Rep. David Mack (D-Charleston County). The bill passed through the House in April with a vote of 72-39.

During the Medical Affairs Subcommittee meeting Thursday, several lawmakers went back-and-forth about whether parental consent could play into teens being allowed to use tanning beds.

“Parents assume that means that it’s safer because it requires parental consent. Really, it’s not any safer since there’s more UV radiation exposure than you would get on a sunny day,” Rep. Bernstein said.

The bill would also impose a $500 fine on a tanning facility if they are caught allowing teens to use their tanning beds. The Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), according to the bill, would be the agency collecting the fine.

The date of the next Medical Affairs Subcommittee meeting where this bill could be discussed has yet to be determined.