Gel nails can cause cancer

[GettingStuffed]

After the notification that gel polish can cause allergies that can affect medical interventions a Dr has now announced that they can also cause cancer.

The reason is simple . The UV light that cures the gel gives off radiation and as such can damage smells. She's not calling for people to stop gels in total but if you refuse have gel nails she say look for an alternative that doesn't use UV light

Which doctor? Link to research?

I mean, to me this is obvious. Exposing your skin to uv light every few weeks over several years is a really silly idea. And it’s the kind of thing that won’t show up until many years later, not a lot of excess skin, logical risk is losing part of a finger.

I do have gels done, but probably once or twice a year as a maximum. I have had them for weddings and the occasional holiday. That said, the last two I’ve had have not lasted well and I have not been impressed.

That’s not new information though. Regular exposure to Uv light increases the risk of skin cancers.

I just paint my nails with nail varnish for special occasions, like weddings. However normally they are left natural. I trim them and moisturise them with oils.

Also I wear sandals / shoes with closed toes generally or trainers / boots. I have open toed shoes but only wear them occasionally, I would generally paint my nails if I was planning to wear open toes out.

Shock horror. Exposing yourself to uv light causes cancer. This has been known for years

This is not new. UV light can cause skin cancer. You are putting yourself at risk if you use UV light to cure your nails.

We've known the risk of sunbeds for years. It makes sense to use the same logic for the UV light they use on gel nails. Just because it's a smaller part of your body that's being exposed doesn't mean it's less harmful.

I have dodgy knees and will likely need a replacement, so stopped having my nails done when I read the report about allergies. One of the allergies is a reaction to plastics and cements they use in replacement joints, so if I became intolerant to these my body would reject a new knee and I'd probably end up losing part of my leg. Not worth the risk in my book.

A doctor has not 'now' announced this. The risk has been known for years.

What would be useful would be a link to any confirmed research or data?

I do think constantly having fake nails can’t be a good thing generally.

Well yeah obviously, it’s sticking your fingers in a mini sunbed and the dangers of those have been known for years.

Ive never had gel nails and never used sunbeds.

I know how dangerous sunbeds are and there's a lot of publicity about them. Never seen any publicity about gel nails. I'm educated and not entirely daft but I hadn't made the connection to UV light and nails.

https://www.skincancer.org/blog/ask-the-expert-are-the-uv-lamps-in-the-dryers-at-the-nail-salon-safe-to-use/

OP telling porkies

It's a tiny, tiny dose. Some of the newer lamps aren't even on the UV spectrum.

This doesn't really support your point. Just says the risk is much lower than once thought but to still take precautions as there might still be a risk.

I wouldn't be surprised tbh. I'm no scientist or medical expert but I would pretty much think that anything artificial regularly introduced into ones body could have adverse reactions.
We know that exposure to sunbeds can cause cancer, we know smoking can cause a whole host of medical problems, we know alcohol and drugs taken long term can cause damage.
I'm waiting for the announcement that injecting fillers into your lips, tits and arse can result in damage to your health 😉

I know right!

I have an LED lamp. Works just the same as the UV one.

I've been using sun beds twice a week. Will stop when nice weather stays.

Injecting fillers into your butt can actually kill you pretty quickly, no need to wait for long term megative effects

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-66798236.amp

LED is just a different type of light bulb. They can still emit light on the UV spectrum (the nail industry can be a tad sneaky about this distinction).

I always stick high spf suncream on in advance of my nails appts the same way I would if I was going to be walking around on a sunny day.

Oooo the science here is not conclusive. One decent lit review found no link between use of UV nail lamps and melanoma https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7492020/

Your nail plate blocks a lot UVA rays anyway https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21173303/

Others have found that the amount of UVA/B you're exposed to varies wildly between lamps and within the lamp, and their data suggests that, even with numerous exposures, the risk for carcinogenesis remains small https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/fullarticle/1862050

Where links with cancer have been shown, I have questions about the methods. One often cited study last year https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-35876-8 is, I think, fearmongering (and I suspect published as an extreme for the publicity/citations.). They exposed cells alone, not skin as it occurs on our bodies, so missing the top layer that can protect us from UV. They used high passage cells (28 and 35) and so they'll have a load of genetic mutations anyway and not really be like cells in our bodies. They also used extreme amounts of UV at a time (20 mins, 2x over 1d/3x 3d), much more than a person would be exposed to in a standard manicure. Some of their results contradict previous data (no evidence of pyrimidine-pyrimidine photodimers) and I don't think they show the results to back up some of their strong statements. Other papers trying to show UV lamps cause cancer are similarly flawed.

All in all, if you're worried, wear some UVA blocking sunscreen on your hands. Pop it on 20 minutes before your appointment. Don't torture yourself that because you've had gel manicures you're going to get melanoma, you're probably not.

Sunbeds on the other hand = skin cancer. The lamps are different than gel nail lamps, much stronger, much longer continuous exposure. Stay away from those.