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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4767 Introduced in House (IH)]

109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4767

To require the Food and Drug Administration to conduct consumer testing 
 to determine the appropriateness of the current labeling requirements 
  for indoor tanning devices and determine whether such requirements 
 provide sufficient information to consumers regarding the risks that 
the use of such devices pose for the development of irreversible damage 
      to the skin, including skin cancer, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 16, 2006

    Mrs. Maloney (for herself and Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite of Florida) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To require the Food and Drug Administration to conduct consumer testing 
 to determine the appropriateness of the current labeling requirements 
  for indoor tanning devices and determine whether such requirements 
 provide sufficient information to consumers regarding the risks that 
the use of such devices pose for the development of irreversible damage 
      to the skin, including skin cancer, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Tanning Accountability and 
Notification Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The Food and Drug Administration (``FDA'') and numerous 
        leading United States health care organizations estimate that 
        approximately one million Americans each year will be stricken 
        with skin cancer, a potentially deadly disease, and the most 
        common of all types of cancers.
            (2) The number of cases of melanoma, the most deadly of all 
        skin cancers, is rising in the United States. The American 
        Cancer Society estimates 111,900 Americans will be diagnosed 
        with melanoma in 2006. Nationally, one person dies of melanoma 
        almost every hour.
            (3) Numerous studies have established that skin cancer is 
        closely associated with excessive ultraviolet light exposure.
            (4) In December 2002, the National Institute of 
        Environmental Health Sciences issued a report that identified 
        broad spectrum ultraviolet radiation produced by artificial 
        light sources as a known carcinogen and added such radiation to 
        its listing of 228 substances linked to cancer.
            (5) The FDA, joined by the National Institutes of Health, 
        the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World 
        Health Organization, and the American Academy of Dermatology, 
        discourages the use of tanning beds and sun lamps, and has 
        concluded that indoor tanning can be as harmful as outdoor 
        tanning, and that perhaps more than one million people in the 
        United States alone visit tanning salons each day on the 
        average.
            (6) The FDA and numerous leading United States and 
        international health care organizations have expressed concerns 
        that the consuming public generally, and teenage population 
        particularly, is not aware that indoor tanning devices emit 
        ultraviolet radiation that is similar to and sometimes more 
        powerful than the UV radiation emitted by the sun.
            (7) The FDA has concluded that there are no ``safe rays'' 
        insofar as both types of ultraviolet light cause skin cancer, 
        damage to the eyes and the immune system, as well as wrinkling 
        and other signs of premature skin aging. Tanning devices in 
        salons, tanning parlors, spas, and similar settings are in no 
        way less harmful alternatives to the sun's rays.
            (8) Exposure to ultraviolet radiation, especially from 
        indoor tanning equipment, is not necessary to maintain adequate 
        levels of vitamin D in the body. A comprehensive review of the 
        scientific literature published in the February 2006 issue of 
        the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology confirms 
        that exposing oneself to harmful doses of ultraviolet radiation 
        is an unsafe practice that is not essential to maintaining an 
        adequate supply of vitamin D for good bone and muscle health.
            (9) According to the American Academy of Dermatology, 
        manufacturers of tanning devices should be required to fix upon 
        the devices a warning label reading, ``Ultraviolet radiation 
        can cause skin cancer and nonreversible forms of damage to the 
        skin''.

SEC. 3. REPORT BY FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION REGARDING LABELING 
              INFORMATION ON RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN USE OF INDOOR TANNING 
              DEVICES AND DEVELOPMENT OF SKIN CANCER OR OTHER SKIN 
              DAMAGE.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
(referred to in this section as the ``Secretary''), acting through the 
Commissioner of Food and Drugs, shall determine--
            (1) whether the labeling requirements for indoor tanning 
        devices, including the positioning requirements, provide 
        sufficient information to consumers regarding the risks that 
        the use of such devices pose for the development of 
        irreversible damage to the eyes and skin, including skin 
        cancer; and
            (2)(A) whether adding the warning suggested by the American 
        Academy of Dermatology to the current warning label, or any 
        other additional warning, would communicate the risks of indoor 
        tanning more effectively; or
            (B) whether there is no warning that would be capable of 
        adequately communicating such risks.
    (b) Consumer Testing.--In making the determinations under 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall conduct appropriate consumer 
testing, using the best available methods for determining consumer 
understanding of label warnings.
    (c) Public Hearings; Public Comment.--The Secretary shall hold 
public hearings and solicit comments from the public in making the 
determinations under subsection (a).
    (d) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress a 
report that provides the determinations under subsection (a). In 
addition, the Secretary shall include in the report the measures being 
implemented by the Secretary to significantly reduce the risks 
associated with indoor tanning devices.
                                 <all>
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