--- description: In 2023, The Skin Cancer Foundation and Refinery29 teamed up to tell the FDA to ban tanning bed use for minors. title: Ban Teen Tanning image: https://www.skincancer.org/wp-content/uploads/tanning-bed1-1.jpg --- [Home](https://www.skincancer.org/) › [Get Involved](https://www.skincancer.org/get-involved/) › Ban Teen Tanning # Ban Teen Tanning ## Tanning Bed Rule Withdrawn; the Fight Continues ![](https://www.skincancer.org/wp-content/uploads/tanning-bed1-1-600x401.jpg) The Skin Cancer Foundation is greatly disappointed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has withdrawn the 2015 proposed rule “General and Plastic Surgery Devices: Restricted Sale, Distribution, and Use of Sunlamp Products.”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](https://skincancer.acemlnc.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GE3IISdEK38ytxKguNr2KBRvgH2weUzX5jFU3bM5pR~yky7wuFx2-3m-NFfx1OxXnIWI3ma7q362NDHUuB). **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.** 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.](https://www.skincancer.org/wp-content/uploads/SCF-x-R29-Letter-with-Signatures-to-Commissioner-Califf-9.21.23.pdf) In March 2026, the rule, which would prohibit people under the age of 18 from using tanning beds, was withdrawn. While the news of the rule withdrawal is a setback, The Skin Cancer Foundation will continue advocating for tanning beds to be banned, amid a resurgence in dangerous “tanmaxxing” tanning trends among teens ### Get Involved We hope to** take this battle to the state level in 2027.** Currently, 20 states snd the District of Columbia prohibit minors from using tanning beds and another 24 enforce partial restrictions. **If you want to join us** in a potential 2027 advocacy campaign urging legislators in states with partial or no restrictions to prohibit tanning bed use by minors, **sign our interest form.** Ban Indoor Tanning for Minors Interest Form I want to get involved in The Skin Cancer Foundation’s advocacy efforts to urge state legislators to restrict tanning bed use for minors under age 18. Name \* First Last Email \* City \* State \* --- Select Choice --- Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming State Name Email - I would like to receive emails about this initiative. Add Your Name![Loading]() ### 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](https://www.skincancer.org/blog/melanoma-bucket-list/) ### 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 Dermatolog*y](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4888600/) found that of  [63 women diagnosed with melanoma](http://skincancer.org/blog/5-myths-indoor-tanning-busted/) 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] ### Related reading ##### May 7, 2025 ### [From Tanning Beds to Skin Cancer](https://www.skincancer.org/blog/from-tanning-beds-to-skin-cancer/) As a kid, Cassidy just wanted to have fun with her friends and get tan. She never thought it would lead to 30 basal cell carcinomas. Her Mohs surgeon and his trainee want to tell her story as a cautionary tale. ##### January 9, 2024 ### [Indoor Tanning 101: Do You Know the Risks?](https://www.skincancer.org/blog/indoor-tanning-101-do-you-know-the-risks/) Tanning beds have no place in a healthy skin routine. Make sure you have the facts about this harmful habit. ##### January 2, 2024 ### [Teen Tanning: A Short-Term Decision With Long-Term Consequences](https://www.skincancer.org/blog/tanning/) Even after hearing that women who have ever been indoor tanning are six times more likely to be diagnosed with melanoma in their 20s than those who have never done so, it’s hard to believe skin cancer can happen at such a young age. Most young indoor tanners probably don’t believe it can happen to them. ##### May 30, 2023 ### [Indoor Tanning Legislation: Here’s Where We Stand](https://www.skincancer.org/blog/indoor-tanning-legislation-heres-stand/) When you consider the dangers of indoor tanning, it’s difficult to believe the practice is still legal for anyone, let alone children. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is a proven human carcinogen, and more than 419,000 cases of skin cancer in the U.S. each year are linked to indoor tanning. Yet we know that teenagers around the country are still using UV tanning beds. 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