Ignorance will no longer be bliss if a bill requiring tanning salon patrons to sign a written statement outlining the risks of tanning is passed by the Pennsylvania legislature.

The bill, entitled the Tanning Facilities Act, would require facilities with tanning beds to have their patrons sign a written statement every year.

The statement describes health risks associated with tanning and would require customers to use protective eyewear, which would be provided by the facility.

Darian Pletcher, general manager of East Coast Health & Fitness, 236 W. Hamilton Ave., said having patrons sign a liability form would help protect tanning facilities from litigation.

"They can't come back at you if they get cancer because they signed the form," he said.

Pletcher added that having a patron sign the statement more than once was "monotonous."

The proposed act states that warnings would include abnormal skin sensitivity or burning, premature skin aging and cancer.

Patrons would have to sign the same statement annually to continue tanning.

Facilities would also be required to display the warnings on a sign that is easily visible to patrons when they walk into the facility in addition to signs on the tanning beds.

Jessica Gray, executive director for state Rep. Elinor Taylor, R-Chester, said Taylor has been working on the bill for 10 years after a friend of hers died from melanoma -- the deadliest form of skin cancer -- caused by overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which is used in tanning beds.

She said the House of Consumer Affairs Committee is currently reviewing the act, which will then have to make its way through the House, the Pennsylvania Senate and a senate committee before being considered.

"We're getting a jump early on in the session because it is a long process," Gray said.

According to the act, anyone between the ages of 14 and 18 must have a parent or guardian sign the warning statement before tanning. If the person is under 14 years old, a parent or guardian must accompany them to the facility.

Owners of tanning salons would also be required to register with the Pennsylvania Department of Health annually.

Pletcher said he would support registering the department as long as there was no fee for doing so.

The act proposes a $35 initial registration fee and $25 to renew it each year.

Gray said Taylor's office had not received any complaints about the proposal from tanning facilities so far.

Kerry McAndress and Sharon Taverno, employees at Hollywood Tans of State College, 111 W. Beaver Ave., both said they did not expect to see a loss in younger customers if the bill is passed.

"College kids are the ones who usually come here, so it shouldn't be a big deal," McAndress (freshman-marketing) said.

Lizzie Yurick (freshman-engineering), who was at Hollywood Tans tanning for her sister's wedding, said she only tans for special events.

"I know something could happen because you hear it all the time," she said.

Taverno (junior-human development and family studies and Spanish) said parents usually come in with teenagers anyway, so the bill requiring parents to sign a statement wouldn't affect salons much.

"Parents come in because they're the ones paying for it," she said.