A ban on teens tanning has taken effect as the days get shorter and sunshine rare.

New rules banning teens from using tanning beds in B.C. came into effect Monday.

On the first day of spring, then-Health Minister Mike de Jong announced a ban on the use of tanning beds by people under the age of 18, to cut down on their risk of developing skin cancer later in life.

"Unfortunately, cancer affects thousands of British Columbian families, with one in three people expected to develop some form of cancer - such as skin cancer like melanoma - in their lifetime," de Jong said.

The change in the law was not welcomed by all tanning salon proprietors, with Daniella Giovanatti, manager of Langley's West Coast Tanning, telling the Langley Advance the new regulation was "obnoxious."

Studies have shown that indoor tanning before the age of 35 raises the risk of melanoma by 75 per cent, de Jong said.

In 2012, the BC Cancer Agency estimates that 966 British Columbians will be diagnosed with melanoma and 150 will die of it. One in 69 women and one in 56 men is expected to develop melanoma during their lifetime. One in 413 women and one in 284 men is expected to die of melanoma.

Melanoma is the most deadly type of skin cancer. The number of cases of skin cancer has been on the rise in Canada.