Bill banning tanning bed use for minors passes to Iowa House

IOWA CITY - Corridor tanning salon employees have mixed reactions to a proposed bill that would make it illegal for Iowa teens to tan.

'I think it would be a good idea,” said Allie Setter, a University of Iowa junior who works at Sunkissed Tanning in Iowa City's Old Capitol Town Center. 'I wish I wouldn't have tanned when I was 16 and 17.”

Iowa House Study Bill 81, which would restrict tanning bed use to people 18 and older, was passed by the House Human Resources Committee Tuesday by a 15-to-5 vote. To become law, it must be approved by the House, Senate and Gov. Terry Branstad.

Similar proposals fizzled in 2013 and 2014.

More than 100 advocates were at the Capitol Tuesday to encourage lawmakers to support the ban.

Research shows overexposure to the ultraviolet light in tanning beds at a young age greatly increases the chances of developing skin cancer later in life. People who use tanning beds before the age of 35 increase their chances of getting skin cancer nearly 60 percent, according to the American Cancer Society.

Nine states and the District of Columbia ban indoor tanning for minors. Iowa is one of only nine states with no age restrictions on minors tanning, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The only age restriction in Iowa's law says operators must be at least 16.

An amendment to House Study Bill 81 that would have allowed an exception for 16- and 17-year-olds with parental consent was narrowly defeated Tuesday.

Many Iowa tanning salons already require parental permission. Sunkissed Tanning goes a step further by asking parents to be present while their teens tan, Setter said.

Pat Rice, owner of Electric Beach Tanning Salon in Coralville, lets teens tan with a parent's signature. If a junior high student wanted to tan, she would ask the parent to stay, she said.

Rice, who has been in the tanning business since 1985, opposes the proposed tanning ban.

'It will be bad for the kids because if they can't tan in a salon, they'll go to a friend's parent's basement tanning bed, get burned and not wear eye protection,” Rice said.

The American Suntanning Association opposed past bills in the Iowa Legislature, but has not registered as an opponent this year, said Joe Levy, scientific adviser for the group. Tanners under age 18 make up less than 2 percent of salons' business, Levy said.

Still, he wants to make sure this year's discussion doesn't include what he considers over-the-top language comparing ultraviolet light to plutonium and arsenic.

Des Moines Bureau reporter Erin Murphy contributed to this report.