Tanning for teens may become a thing of the past under new legislation being debated in the Iowa Legislature that would restrict access to tanning facilities for anyone under 18.

Senate File 232 was passed by the Senate on a mostly party-line vote, 26-23.

The bill states “a tanning facility shall not allow a person under 18 years of age to use a tanning device.”

State Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, authored the Senate bill that would restrict access to teens. He defended the law, citing the dangers of cancer and said he has support of many in the medical industry.

“The importance of this bill is about the prevalence of skin cancer,” Quirmbach said. “The dermatologists who brought this to my attention are convinced and have the data to support this, that people, especially young people who do a significant amount of tanning, have a much greater incidence of skin cancer.”

Quirmbach noted that a large number of medical groups of lobbyists have signed on to support the bill, including the American Suntanning Association.

Other supporters, Quirmbach said, include the American Cancer Society, Cancer Action Network, the Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics and the Polk County Medical Society.

“It sounds like something that’s kind of innocent, you go get a tan to look good for prom, but when skin cancer sets in, you don’t look so cool anymore,” Quirmbach said.

Quirmbach said he was not sure if the House would take up his bill, which has been sent to the House but has not been assigned to a committee.

The House passed a similar bill out of the House Human Resources Committee on a 15-5 vote, but with some different language.

The House bill includes the same language related to age restrictions, but also includes some regulations such as a requirement to post warning signs in tanning facilities and a requirement that tanning salons must provide customers with a written warning about the dangers of using tanning devices.