Do you regularly go to the nail salon to get a beautiful gel manicure? If so you may need to be aware of the risks involved if it is done regularly. According to a study by researchers from the University of California San Diego, ultraviolet (UV) nail dryers used in gel manicures cause cell mutations that can lead to skin cancer.
The study was conducted after researchers read cases of beauty queens suffering from skin diseases that are rarely detected on the fingers. What they have in common is that they often get gel manicures. In tests performed on human and mouse cells in the laboratory, exposure to the machine (UV) for 20 minutes caused 30% of eye cells to die. After three 20-minute sessions, up to 70% of them were found to be dead. In cells that did not die, damage to DNA and mutations found in skin cancer patients were found.
A longer study will be done to see if the use of UV nail dryers can cause skin cancer. In this preliminary study, it simply confirmed that it causes mutations that can lead to skin cancer.
Gel-based nail manicures became popular in the early 2010s because they are more durable and have a faster drying time than regular nail polish. After being placed on the nail, it is not easy to chip and this saves time for users who do not want to color their nails often.