She says she doesn't obsess about it, but having a bronze skin tone is important to Paige Smith.
So is getting her parents' permission to use a tanning bed.
"Of course my parents know," said Smith, 16, a Penn Trafford High School student who lives in Harrison City. "There should be parental consent, because until a person turns 18 the parents control what they can and cannot do. And if a parent thinks that their 14-year-old daughter shouldn't be tanning like all the 'older girls,' then its their decision, not hers."
State lawmakers and some indoor tanning operators agree that parents should be involved in a teenager's decision to tan.
"We believe parents should know what their kids are doing," said Bob English, 46, of Monroeville, who owns five Tantastic tanning salons in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. "It's just common sense."
For the second consecutive year, a bill was introduced in the state Senate that would restrict teenagers' access to professional tanning salons. At least 27 other states have enacted similar laws.
Under the proposal, teens from age 14 to 18 would need to have a parent accompany them on each visit and sign a waiver. Children under age 14 would need a doctor's prescription for ultraviolet radiation treatments, such as for psoriasis.
Ultraviolet radiation, whether from the sun or tanning salons, causes skin to tan but also is believed to be the most important factor in developing skin cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
"My fear is that we're going to have 12- and 13-year-olds going to tanning salons, and that troubles me," said Sen. Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, a cosponsor of the bill he hopes the Senate Public Health and Welfare committee will take up this fall.
The tanning industry supports some similar state laws, said John Overstreet, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Indoor Tanning Association. But he noted opposition to what he called absurd laws that require parental consent on each visit.
"It's a backhanded way to keep kids from using tanning salons," Overstreet said.
English said his businesses require parental consent for children under 16. He would support a state law forcing all operators to comply with similar requirements. However, he questioned how it would be enforced and why restrictions also wouldn't be placed on tanning outdoors.
"If you're going to regulate sun exposure, you need to regulate all sun exposure," English said.
Costa acknowledged that many aspects of the bill need to be worked out.
"I just don't like the idea of it being unregulated," Costa said. "The consequences could be pretty significant."
Each year, more than 100,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, said Dr. John Kirkwood, director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Melanoma Center.
"I think this is a true epidemic," Kirkwood said.
People with fair skin who burn and do not tan are at most risk for developing skin cancer. Experts say people get 50 to 80 percent of their damaging sun exposure before age 18.
More than 33 percent of girls age 17 use tanning salons, compared to 7 percent of 14-year-olds, according to a 2002 study published in Pediatrics. A report by the American Academy of Dermatology showed nearly 80 percent of teens aged 12 to 17 said they knew tanning can be dangerous and increases the risk of developing skin cancer.
Both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization advise teens under 18 not to use indoor tanning salons. The WHO, however, noted that no evidence exists showing either form of tanning is safer than the other.
"There is no safe sun, but there is sun behavior that's just being smart," Kirkwood said. "I think it's high time we do what we can do reduce society's sun exposure, whether that would be through legislation or, as I prefer, through education."
English advocates smart-sun exposure, whether it be outside or exposure from an indoor salon.
"I'm a firm believer that God doesn't make mistakes, and living things need sunlight to live," he said. "Can there be too much exposure? Absolutely. We don't want to hurt people. The bottom line we preach is common sense and moderation."
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