The federal government is considering a crackdown on indoor tanning.
Proponents of the proposed "Tanning Bed Cancer Control Act" say "tanning salons are the cancer coffins of our time."
New York Democratic Representative Carolyn Maloney and Pennsylvania Republican Representative Charles Dent will introduce the measure in Congress today.
The bill would expand federal regulation of tanning beds by limiting the amount of UV rays emitted and by restricting exposure time for consumers.
Cosmopolitan Magazine Editor-in-Chief Kate White announced support for the proposed legislation.
"At Cosmo, we've been warning our readers about the dangers of tanning for years," said White.
The Indoor Tanning Association has maintained tanning salons and beds are not harmful to health, despite increasing opposition from the medical community.
Just last summer the World Health Organization raised the classification of UV-emitting tanning devices to Group 1, "carcinogenic to humans."
"I try not to use them too often," said one young woman on her lunch hour, "but I look better with a tan."
It is that type of thinking the American Academy of Dermatology has been trying to combat.
The World Health Organization also reported those who use tanning beds before the age of 30 have a 75% higher risk of developing melanoma.
