Petition Update
FDA Tanning Bed Rule Withdrawn
The Skin Cancer Foundation is greatly disappointed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has withdrawn the 2015 proposed rule “General and Plastic Surgery Devices: Restricted Sale, Distribution, and Use of Sunlamp Products.” This proposed rule recommended tanning bed restrictions for minors. It is our hope that the FDA reviews the scientific evidence and reconsiders this decision. In the meantime, The Skin Cancer Foundation will continue to educate the public about the dangers of UV tanning beds. Read more.
Background: In 2023, The Skin Cancer Foundation and Refinery29 teamed up to save lives, with a petition telling the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to finalize a rule banning indoor tanning for teens. That rule was withdrawn in March 2026.
The FDA regulates products that emit radiation, including tanning beds, which use mostly ultraviolet A (UVA) light to develop a tan. In December 2015, the FDA proposed a rule that would prohibit people under the age of 18 from using tanning beds and require adult users to sign a risk acknowledgement certificate before their first use of a tanning bed and every six months after that.
We were able to surpass our goal, getting 7,500 signatures on our petition. We sent the official letter, with our signatures, to Washington DC. View the petition and signatures as of September 2023.
While the news of the rule withdrawal is a setback, The Skin Cancer Foundation will continue advocating for tanning beds to be completely banned in the U.S.
We’re Not Done Yet
Change may be slow going, but we all have the power to help move things along by supporting researchers, doctors and organizations that continue to raise awareness about the very real dangers of UV tanning beds. Take a moment to contact your state and local representatives to let them know you support restrictions on indoor tanning!
“Tanning is not worth what your life becomes
when you’re diagnosed with cancer.”
– Chelsea Dawson, former teen tanner and melanoma survivor
2023 Petition
Robert M. Califf, M.D., Commissioner
Food and Drug Administration
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
10903 New Hampshire Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20993
Dear Commissioner Califf:
In a coordinated effort of The Skin Cancer Foundation and Refinery29, part of the VICE Media Group, we the undersigned respectfully urge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to take suitable actions to finalize the proposed rule entitled General and Plastic Surgery Devices: Restricted Sale, Distribution, and Use of Sunlamp Products (Docket No. FDA-2015-N-1765) published by the FDA in the Federal Register on December 22, 2015 (80 Fed. Reg. 79493).
The dangers of indoor tanning are well documented. Indeed, the FDA acknowledged this when the agency reclassified sunlamp products from class I to class II high risk medical devices in 2014. Tanning bed use drastically increases skin cancer risk, including the risk for potentially deadly melanoma. In fact, a 2016 study published in the JAMA Dermatology found that of 63 women diagnosed with melanoma before age 30, 61 of them — 97 percent — used tanning beds.
Over the years, The Skin Cancer Foundation has heard from hundreds of former tanning bed users who are fighting skin cancer. Many lament that they did not fully understand the risks they were taking.
By finalizing the proposed rule, the FDA can curb tanning habits among Americans and significantly reduce the incidence of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers in the United States.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent public health matter.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]