Do The UV Lamps At Nail Salons Increase Risk Of Skin Cancer?

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According to Dr. Dendy Engelman, dermatologic surgeon at Manhattan Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery, UV lamps can increase your risk for skin cancer.

“If we have our hands or feet under these ultraviolet lamps, we’re exposing the dorsum in the hands or foot, the skin around the around the nails, to this UV light, and that over time can increase our risk of skin cancer.”

A lot of nail salons use UV lamps to make gel manicures set, so that the nail polish hardens and doesn’t smudge. “A lot of nail salons when they’re using gel manicures will use ultraviolet light to cure the polish and make it dry quickly and make it not smudge, and so you don’t have to sit and wait under the drying fans for a long time,” says Dr. Engelman.

But there are other options that don’t increase your cancer risk, says Dr. Engelman “What you want to do is either use the powder based manicures, if you like gel, where it doesn’t require any light to cure it, or you can just do the traditional nail polish where you just use the fans to dry. It takes a little longer but it’s much safer. “

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