The suspicion has always been there; that UV nail dryers could cause DNA damage and potentially lead to skin cancer. A new study published last week supports this idea, demonstrating that this manicure method may not be safe in the long run.
UV nail dryers expose customers to ultraviolet rays, which are already known to cause skin cancer from other sources, such as the sun or tanning beds. But the question remains if exposure from these hand-sized devices is enough to cause cancer.
In the study, researchers exposed cells derived from humans and mice to UV light from nail dryers. They found that after 20 minutes, 20% to 30% of the cells had died. After three consecutive 20-minute sessions, 65% to 70% of the cells had died. Showing conclusively that the lights are damaging DNA.
But because these lamps have not been studied on humans, researchers suggest they will need human trials and up to 10 more years to explore if that damage could lead to cancer.
“At this point, I would recommend or advise people to just weigh the risk,” said one of the study’s authors, Maria Zhivagui, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, San Diego. “Understand what this is doing. There is damage at the DNA level. We don’t know if it’s carcinogenic.”
Dermatologists recommend limiting UV manicures to special occasions, if at all, and foregoing this type of manicure on a routine basis to play it safe.
