The Joint Canadian Tanning Association also denies there is any scientific evidence to show tanning beds cause melanoma or skin cancer.

“We don’t think the science even comes anywhere near supporting such a notion,” said association president Doug McNabb.

“We think it’s a little grandstanding politically.”

McNabb was referring to a proposed private member’s bill that Conservative MP James Bezan says he will introduce in the House of Commons in March.

“I’m strictly talking about a consumer awareness campaign of labelling the risks so that those who are using a tanning salon, especially those under 18, are aware that their risks to a carcinogenic exposure are greatly escalated when they are in an artificial tanning system,” Bezan said.

The proposed bill would require radiation warning labels on tanning beds that draw a clear link between ultraviolet rays and skin cancer. It would also ensure the labels would be large and placed where the user can clearly see them.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, says anyone who begins using tanning devices before the age of 30 increases their risk of cancer by 75 per cent.

“Any tanning increases your risk of cancer,” said Aaron Levo, director of public issues for the Canadian Cancer Society, “including tanning beds.”

The Canadian Cancer Society and the World Health Organization would go further than the bill, banning those under 18 from using tanning beds altogether.

The tanning association would prefer a less stringent rule — that parents of those under 16 would have to come to the salon and sign an approval form.

“Banning minors from professional salons will only make the problem of overexposure worse,” said McNabb.

Nothing will stop teenagers from getting a tan, and they are better off tanning in a salon with professionals overseeing them than in the backyard unsupervised or using inexpensive, unregulated tanning units at home, he said.

McNabb estimates about two to three per cent of salon clients are under 18 and less than half a per cent are under 16.

Health Canada regulates standards for the manufacture of indoor tanning equipment and provides operating guidelines for tanning salons in Canada, the association notes.

While the industry would like to remain self-governing when it comes to how the equipment is used, if regulations are coming it would like to be a part of the process of developing them.

In addition to having parents of children under 16 sign approval forms the industry is proposing operator training standards, including skin typing and exposure procedures, and facility requirements that include “remote timing” controls which allow only certified operators to set exposure times.

The association says professional salons already impose such standards voluntarily.

Last year, the WHO elevated tanning devices to its highest risk category and called them “carcinogenic to humans.”

“It is known that young people who get burnt from exposure to UV will have a greater risk of developing melanoma later in life, and recent studies demonstrate the direct link between the use of sunbeds and cancer,” reads a statement on the WHO’s website.

But the tanning association says skin type rather than age that is the most important factor in determining whether tanning is harmful. It does not recommend that those with fair skin use tanning beds, regardless of age.

The Canadian Cancer Society would also like to see all of the tanning industry regulated, as well as requiring a licence for UV-emitting equipment and for all staff who work with it.

Bezan was inspired to propose the bill after his wife, who he describes as a “sunworshipper”, was diagnosed with melanoma twice. He says she used both natural sunlight and tanning beds.

“I’d like to see people avoid those circumstances that we’ve gone through as a family,” he said.

He’s hoping all three parties will support the bill.

With most of the votes from Sunday’s election counted, Laura Chinchilla held a 22-point lead over her closest rival. Her 47 per cent share of the vote was well beyond the 40 per cent needed to avoid a run-off.

The 50-year-old protege of the current president, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias, promised to pursue the same economic policies that recently brought the country into a trade pact with the U.S. and opened commerce with China.

“Today we are making history,” said Chinchilla, who will be the fifth Latin American woman to serve as president when she takes office in May. “The Costa Rican people have given me their confidence, and I will not betray it.”

The closest contender, Otton Solis of the Citizens Action Party, got 25 per cent of the votes. He and the other main rival, Libertarian Otto Guevara, quickly conceded defeat.

It was unclear, however, whether Chinchilla’s National Liberation Party would gain a majority in congress.

Analyst Heather Berkman of the Eurasia Group said coalition building without a majority would likely delay or derail controversial fiscal reforms to shore up government finances and energy deregulation.

Libertarian party wins 21 per cent of vote

The third-place candidate, Guevara, congratulated Chinchilla as “our president,” but he also pointed out the new political muscle of his tax-bashing Libertarian Movement Party. He won 21 per cent of the vote.

Arias’ economic policies helped insulate Costa Rica from the world economic crisis as he kept a high profile on the world stage as a negotiator in Honduras’ political crisis after a coup deposed President Manuel Zelaya in June.

Critics of the Arias government, in which Chinchilla served as vice-president, contended its policies catered to big developers to boost the economy at the cost of the nation’s fragile ecosystems.

But most Costa Ricans were reluctant to shake up the status quo in a country with relatively high salaries, the longest life expectancy in Latin America, a thriving ecotourism industry and near-universal literacy.

Chinchilla, the mother of a teenage son, is a social conservative who opposes abortion and gay marriage. She appealed both to Costa Ricans seeking a fresh face and those reluctant to risk the unknown.

As a female president, she would follow an increasingly common trend in many Latin American countries: Nicaragua, Panama, Chile and Argentina have all elected women as presidents.

Alfredo Fernandez, 77, said he has always voted for the National Liberation Party, but this time his ballot was special.

“It is an honour to be able to have a woman president,” he said.

Even Costa Ricans on the margins of society backed Chinchilla.

Heizel Arias, a 24-year-old single mother, voted at a prison where she is serving an eight-year sentence for drug smuggling.

Endeavour and its crew of six blasted off early Monday at 4:14 a.m. ET.

The pre-dawn launch was the last one in darkness if the rest of the shuttle schedule holds. Only four more shuttle flights are left.

Endeavour is carrying a new room for the International Space Station and an observation deck. These are the last major pieces for the orbiting complex.

The shuttle is scheduled to reach the space station Wednesday. Its flight was delayed a day by cloudy weather.