‘Nail dryers with UV lamp possibly carcinogenic’

Nail drying lamps used for manicures can be carcinogenic. That is what American researchers from the University of California say.

Nail salons often use UV lamps to dry gel nail polish. That nail polish lasts longer than polish from a jar. People can also use the lamp at home.

The American researchers discovered in their laboratory that human cells that were exposed to the UV light became damaged. The longer the exposure, the more cells died.

In addition, the researchers observed cell mutations that corresponded to mutation patterns in patients with skin cancer.

KWF Cancer Control is aware of the research and advises users of the UV lamps to be vigilant. “A lot is still unclear. For example, we don’t know how long you have to be exposed to it before you run a risk. Our advice is: if you don’t want to run a risk, limit the use,” a KWF spokesperson told NOS.

To establish that the nail dryers are indeed carcinogenic, additional research is needed, say the American researchers. Nevertheless, they state that the results of their study speak for themselves: the frequent use of these devices is harmful to human cells.

Rare finger cancer

Bioscientist Ludmil Alexandrov got the idea to investigate the effect of the UV lamps after reading a magazine article about a girl with a rare form of finger cancer. The girl participated in beauty contests and regularly took a gel manicure for this.

“I found that striking, so I decided to look into it. Cases were reported in several medical journals of people with this rare form of cancer, who also regularly used this manicure,” says the researcher in a message on the website of the University of California.

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