Abstract
The article reports on a petition to the German Bundestag in the field of UV protection for persons under the age of 18 against the dangers of artificial sunbed tanning for cosmetic purposes. On 16 March 2006 the Parliament agreed to adopt the proposal of the author, after the Ministry of Environment announced it is working on a UV Protection Law for Germany. Furthermore the committee recommended the petition to the government and the parliamentary parties. The UV Protection Law is still in progress, and no draft has yet been published. Therefore, the author explains the difficulties in creating such law from a legal and a public health perspective, pointing out that the split of competence between the federation and the states poses difficulties. He concludes that the German Constitution would allow a sunbed prohibition for minors in public studios and explains why a complete prohibition for the adult population would be disproportionate and unconstitutional.
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