OTTAWA — A Conservative MP is calling for large warning labels on tanning beds and says people under 18 should not be allowed to engage in artificial sun worship.
Manitoba MP James Bezan said young women who seek a “perfect glow” are putting their lives in jeopardy by joining the trend to tan.
“Too many Canadians remain unaware of the cancer-causing effect of tanning beds and indoor tanning equipment,” he said.
Calling Canada’s rules out of date, Bezan said he plans to introduce a private member’s bill legislating mandatory labels warning tanning beds cause cancer and people under 18 should avoid any use.
Bezan said he knows first hand the “devastating strain” skin-cancer can have on a family.
His fair-skinned wife, Kelly, was a frequent sun worshipper who spent her youth sunbathing and winters tanning in her sister’s salon.
In the past seven years, Bezan’s wife has been diagnosed twice with malignant melanoma.
The Canadian Dermatology Association’s Dr. Cheryl Rosen said melanoma is the third most common form of cancer for young women aged 18 to 29, after thyroid and Hodgkin’s disease.
A working group of the World Health Organization’s International Agency of Research on Cancer classified ultraviolet-emitting tanning devices as “carcinogenic to humans” last year and placed tanning beds in the highest cancer risk category, with mustard gas and cigarettes.
But Sunburst Tanning Centre owner Lise Chevalier said the research is “not credible.”
The four-time cancer survivor said she gets competing information from the tanning industry trumpeting the benefits of vitamin D and tanning for people suffering with acne and eczema.
“I would close shop first, if it ever came to the point where I would have to put that in the salon, Chevalier said.
Bezan said he has not told his sister-in-law yet about his plans to slap warning labels on her salon’s tanning beds.
“I didn’t want to ruin Christmas,” he said.
althia.raj@sunmedia.ca
