New taxes and likely restrictions might be levied on indoor tanning beds following growing concerns about the dangers of these beds.

Teenagers might be asked to get a parental consent before using a tanning bed or these beds might be totally banned for teens, a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended. Reclassifying tanning lamps from Class I medical devices, a category that includes tongue depressors and elastic bandages, to a Class II or Class III device, has been recommended by the advisors.

According to an FDA report, about 35 per cent of 17-year-old girls use tanning machines. Skin cancer risk is increased by 75 per cent among people under 30 who use tanning machines, the International Agency for Research on Cancer stated. That agency listed ultraviolet radiation-emitting beds as carcinogenic to humans last July.

A National Cancer Institute study showed that the melanoma rate among young women nearly tripled from 1973 to 2004.

The Indoor Tanning Association has described the panel's recommendations as excessive and added.

Dermatologist Bruce Katz said, a new 10 per cent tax on indoor tanning included in the health reform bill signed last week by President Obama was done because teens have less spending money than adults do and this might make teens think twice about tanning.

The Federal Trade Commission also has been tightening its noose around the marketing of indoor tanning.