Beauty Scare: Can Gel Manicures Increase Your Risk Of Cancer?

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Damn it! Why is it everything I love turns out to be bad for me? Sun? Cancer and age spots. Sweets? Slow you down and make you fat. Pasta? Carbs are the devil. Now gel manicures can increase the risk of cancer too? Say it isn’t so! For someone with weak nails like myself, gel manicures have been a God-send. Well according to a new and disturbing warning from the NYU School of Medicine, popular gel manicures that prevent nails from chipping can actually increase the risk of skin cancer.
Apparently the lengthy dose of UV light used to dry the gel is known to damage skin cells much the same way as tanning beds, says assistant professor of dermatology Dr. Chris Adigun of the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology. “Women who frequently get gel manicures should consider their skin-cancer risk because the UV light needed to cure the gel manicure is a risk factor for skin cancer,” she wrote in a recent article in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
The LED lamps used in drying regular nail polish don’t pose a health risk because they don’t emit ultraviolet radiation. We are just talking about the UV lamps used solely for drying gel manicures which by the way are not regulated, so nobody really knows what the proper does of harmful rays is exactly.
If you just get the occasional gel manicure you might not have much reason to worry. Moderation is the key. Also applying sunscreen to your hands is a good idea. Those who get gel manicures regularly though should consider themselves at risk.
Read “Doc warns that popular gel manicure is a ‘cancer risk’” here.
– Lauren Dimet Waters
Source: NY Post
Image: NY Daily News

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