It is well known that the risk of developing skin cancer is associated with exposure to ultraviolet radiation, however, until recently it was unclear whether UV lamps used in nail salons have anything to do with this. A new study claims that these lamps do not carry such a danger.
In the study, scientists examined three commonly used ultraviolet lamps for drying manicure. They measured the radiation in terms of its possible carcinogenic effects and calculated the “UV doses” that the user would receive during a 10-minute nail drying session.
Not all UV lamps are the same. For example, there are lamps used to treat psoriasis, and studies have shown that treatment with "narrow-band UVB" only slightly increases the likelihood of developing cancer of the skin, compared with more harmful tanning beds.
As for the lamps for drying nails, a new study showed that 13,000-40000 sessions of drying the nails would be necessary for a person to receive the same dose of UV that a psoriasis patient receives during treatment with ultraviolet light. And this is equivalent to the fact that once a week you will do manicure for 250 years.
These findings mean that the use of such UV lamps "does not give a clinically significant increased cancer risk," as the researchers write.
Scientists have considered this issue before. So, in 2009, researchers concluded that ultraviolet lamps for manicure were a risk factor for two women who developed skin cancer, known as squamous cell carcinoma, on the back of their hands. However, as the authors of a new study noted, in 2009, scientists did not measure the ultraviolet radiation of the lamps.
"Dermatologists and primary care physicians can convince patients of the relative safety of these devices," the researchers write in an article in the journal Investigative Dermatology.
