FREDERICTON, N.B. – The New Brunswick Medical Society and the provincial branch of the Canadian Cancer Society want the province to ban youths from using tanning beds.
The organizations say the current guidelines are insufficient in regulating tanning salons.
Rosemary Boyle with the Cancer Society says anyone under the age of 19 should not be using the beds.
“There’s more and more evidence accumulating about the risk of skin cancer, especially malignant melanoma, and its association with tanning devices.”
She says there is evidence that ultra-violet rays from tanning beds can be even more dangerous than those from the midday sun, in some cases.
Several other provinces, including Nova Scotia, Quebec and British Columbia have already introduced bans that prohibit minors from using tanning beds.
New Brunswick previously had a ban on tanning bed use by youths, but it was repealed in 2009.
Lisa Shenton of Sunshine Tanning Studios cleans a tanning bed in North Vancouver, B.C. Tuesday, March, 20, 2012. The province of British Columbia is the latest jurisdiction to ban children and teens from using tanning beds due to increased risk of cancer connected to the beds, according to the province's Health Minister Mike de Jong. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Province pushed to ban youth from using tanning beds
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