Proposed legislation would require putting radiation warning labels on tanning beds that show a link between ultraviolet rays and melanoma, the most fatal kind of skin cancer. (Donald Miralle/Getty Images )

Tanning salon operators are critical of proposed legislation that would warn consumers of the skin cancer risks associated with tanning beds.

The Joint Canadian Tanning Association (JCTA) also says there’s no scientific evidence linking tanning beds to skin cancer or melanoma.

“We don't think the science even comes anywhere near supporting such a notion,” JCTA President Doug McNabb told the Canadian Press.

Conservative MP James Bezan plans introduce a federal bill in March that would require putting radiation warning labels on tanning beds that show a link between ultraviolet rays and melanoma, the most fatal kind of skin cancer. The labels would be placed where they could be clearly seen.

“I'm strictly talking about a consumer awareness campaign of labelling the risks so that those who are using a tanning salon, especially those under 18, are aware that their risks to a carcinogenic exposure are greatly escalated when they are in an artificial tanning system,” said Bezan.

“We think it's a little grandstanding politically,” McNabb said of Bezan’s bill. The JCTA is calling on the provinces to instead help regulate industry operating standards.

Early in 2009, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a branch of the World Health Organization, moved ultraviolet-emitting tanning beds to its highest cancer risk group and labelled them as “carcinogenic to humans,” along with cigarettes, arsenic, and asbestos.

The report also stated that the risk of skin cancer is increased by 75 percent when a person starts using tanning devices before the age of 30.

“Childhood exposure to UV and the number of times a child is burnt by UV, either from the sun or from sunbeds, are known to increase the risk of developing melanoma later in life,” reads a statement on WHO’s website.

The Canadian Cancer Society, WHO, and the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection strongly recommend the restriction of minors under 18 from using tanning beds.

But JCTA favours a looser rule that would require parents of those under 16 to sign an approval form in the salon. The association says that skin type, rather than age, matters the most in determining whether tanning is damaging. It does not advise those with fair skin to use tanning beds regardless of age.

“Banning minors from professional salons will only make the problem of overexposure worse,” said McNabb, adding that teenagers would then use inexpensive and unregulated methods to tan at home.

He estimates that roughly two to three percent of salon clients are under 18 while less than half a percent are under 16.

The Canadian Cancer Society would also like to see the entire tanning industry regulated, including requiring a licence for UV-emitting equipment and for all staff who work with it, according to CP.

Bezan was motivated to propose the legislation after his wife, a “sun worshipper” who used both natural sunlight and tanning beds, was twice diagnosed with melanoma.

“I'd like to see people avoid those circumstances that we've gone through as a family,” he said.