UV Nail Lamps To Increase Risk Of Skin Cancer

A new warning splashed over newspapers doesn’t include swine flu or ice melting; it’s for women who visit beauty salons having their nails done. A new report says that exposing hands to ultra-violet light to fix artificial nails could increase risk of having skin cancer.

The alarm was raised after doctors revealed that two women who had been visiting salons to fix their nails, developed tumors on their hands.

Those lamps producing ultra-violet lights are very cheap and used in thousands beauty salons. Also, they can be bought for home use.

Dermatologists at the University of Texas said that safety of UV nail lamps should be more investigated.

“But exposure to UV light is a major risk factor for the development of skin cancer”, said Dr Deborah MacFarlane from the University of Texas. But Caroline Cerny, cancer researcher states that “it is too early to say for certain that nail lamps are a serious threat to health”.

“But we know that overexposure to artificial sources of UV radiation, such as sunbeds, can increase the risk of skin cancer - so there is no reason to believe that nail lights won't pose a similar risk”, she added.

Higher risks to people’s health are poorly trained nail technicians who use dangerous chemicals that can have effects on respiratory system and skin allergies.