CITY HALL — Moving to bring Chicago into compliance with state laws, a City Council committee passed an ordinance Thursday dropping the legal age to get a tattoo from 21 to 18, but also banning minors from tanning salons.
The ordinance also called for parental consent for tongue and mouth piercings.
"We haven't any public-health reason for not changing the age from 21 to 18," testified Gerrin Butler of the Department of Public Health before the Council's Health Committee.
Many tattoo parlors were unaware of the city's age limit of 21 when Mayor Rahm Emanuel submitted the ordinance amendment in December.
Yet, Butler argued there was a public-health interest in banning those under 18 from tanning salons.
"It's found to be a cause of melanoma," Butler testified.
Ald. Harry Osterman (48th), fresh from an appointment with a dermatologist, agreed, calling the ban "a wise thing to do."
Included in the new ordinance is a requirement for anyone under 18 to get parental consent for any tongue or mouth piercing "in the oral cavity."
The measure passed without opposition and heads to the full City Council for final approval next week.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that tanning beds can cause skin cancers "including melanoma (the deadliest type of skin cancer), basal cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma" and that "exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation also can cause cataracts and cancers of the eye (ocular melanoma)."
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