In the United States (US), indoor tanning (IT) is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and individual state legislation. 22 states and the District of Columbia ban minors under age 18 from IT, 22 have varying age restrictions and parental involvement requirements, and 6 have no age restrictions. This study assesses law compliance of IT facilities, hypothesized to be insufficient and inconsistent.
Trained female staff pseudo-patrons (PPs) called IT facilities (IT salons, beauty salons/spas, gyms, apartments) posing as minors one year younger than the state’s permitted age to tan (e.g., 17 in a state banning IT under 18). PPs asked about unlimited IT packages (contrary to FDA recommendations), sunburns, and whether they were permitted to IT.
112 calls were completed (53 IT salons, 22 spas/beauty salons, 18 gyms, 19 apartment buildings) across 15 states. 21% of facility staff did not ask PPs for their age, and 41% told PPs they could IT despite being underage. 41% of gyms/apartments did not require PPs to be a member/tenant to IT. 81% of facilities offered unlimited IT packages or unlimited access during open hours, and 29% of staff did not admit to PPs that they could be sunburned from IT.
Although many state laws restricting IT have been passed in the US, and IT has decreased, facilities continue to be non-compliant with restrictions for minors, putting children at risk of sunburns and skin cancer. Further analyses will evaluate compliance by type of facility, law stringency, and US region.