Without laws, salons would let children tan

Most tanning salons in Missouri would allow children as young as age 10 to tan if there were no legal restrictions against doing so, according to results of a survey conducted by researchers.

Investigators with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, performed a phone survey of 243 randomly selected tanning facilities in Missouri, a state that has no indoor tanning regulations, according to the study abstract.

About 65 percent of salon operators said they would allow children ages 10 to 12 years old to use indoor tanning devices, the study noted. Eighty percent of respondents claimed indoor tanning would prevent future sunburns, and 43 percent said there were no risks from using indoor tanning devices.

“Despite increasing evidence that UVR exposure in indoor-tanning devices is associated with skin cancer, ocular damage and premature photoaging, tanning facilities in Missouri often misinformed consumers regarding these risks and lack of health benefits and inconsistently provided information about the Food and Drug Administration’s guidelines for tanning devices,” study authors concluded.

The survey findings were published online ahead of print in Pediatrics.