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Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas is hoping the third time's a charm when it comes to getting her private member's bill to ban indoor tanning for those under the age of 18 passed into legislation.
The NDP's critic for health and long-term care introduced the bill for the first time in 2008, but it was wiped from the docket when the legislature was prorogued. In 2010, she introduced it once again, but an election was called last fall before it could be considered.
Besides banning those under the age of 18 from indoor tanning, the legislation would mandate signage on all tanning booths and salons, stating the link between artificial tanning and skin cancer.
It would also require those working in businesses where indoor tanning is provided be trained to tell those who have fair skin and freckles that they should never tan.
Young people are definitely targeted by the tanning industry, Gélinas said.
“Right now it's graduation, and every high school is putting a year book together,” she said.
“If you go in any one of those year books in any one of the communities in Ontario, you will find ads for tanning sessions. If you go to any prom, you will see prizes that consist of free tanning sessions.”
A recent Canadian Cancer Society poll shows that 21 per cent of Ontario youth in Grade 12 are using tanning beds, as are 11 per cent of those in Grade 11.
Eight per cent of Ontario youth in grades 7-12 are using tanning beds, up from five per cent six years ago.
“Enacting legislation to prevent skin cancer should be a no-brainer for all political parties because it provides an opportunity for substantial health care cost reduction,” Joanne Di Nardo, the Candian Cancer Society’s public issues senior manager, said in a press release.
Gélinas won't get a chance to bring the bill forward until November, but she's hoping that Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Deb Matthews will adopt the bill herself.
“She can bring bills forward and move them along really quickly,” she said.
A number of things have changed since the last time Gélinas brought forward the bill.
The World Health Organization has declared tanning beds a carcinogen on the same level of tobacco and asbestos, Gélinas said.
The Canadian Cancer Society has also been working hard to convince MPPs to support the legislation, she said.
Last week, the cancer society hosted a breakfast for MPPs in the legislature to discuss the topic. Each MPP was paired with a cancer society volunteer from their riding to ask for their support.
Matthews herself attended the breakfast, and was “very positive” about the bill, Gélinas said.
Kate Neale, a 22-year-old melanoma survivor from Belleville, Ont., spoke at a press conference on the proposed legislation hosted by Gélinas at the legislature last week.
Against the advice of her parents, as soon as Neale turned 16, she started tanning at the local tanning salon.
“When she graduated from high school, she got a job in the same tanning salon,” Gélinas said. “They made it a condition of employment that she maintain a tanned appearance. She was given 12 free tanning sessions, which she used monthly.”
When she was 21, she found her first melanoma on her stomach. Then she found another one on her breast. She's had to have surgery to have the cancerous cells removed, and has been left with two, clearly visible scars.
“She basically said the industry lied to her,” Gélinas said. “They said if she had a base tan, it would protect her from skin cancer, which is not true.”
The tanning industry says it should be up to the parents to decide whether their children should tan, she said.
“When you're the parent of a teenager, there's enough battles between yourself and your children,” Gélinas said. “The battle about tanning should not be one of them. We will take that out of the equation by making it illegal.”
Tanning myths
“I'm healthier with a tan”
When your skin colour changes due to exposure to ultraviolet radiation, you're damaging your skin, and that can lead to premature ageing and
skin cancer.
“My tan creates a protective layer against the sun.”
A tan offers very limited protection, whether it's from the sun or indoor tanning equipment. Some tanning beds can actually expose you to five
times as much ultraviolet radiation as the midday summer sun.
“Using indoor tanning equipment provides me with a healthy dose of vitamin D.”
Because indoor tanning equipment emits harmful ultraviolet radiation, it makes it a dangerous method of obtaining vitamin D. A few minutes a
day of unprotected skin exposure is usually all that is needed for the average person to get enough vitamin D.
-Source, Canadian Cancer Society
Posted by Arron Pickard
