I recently wrote a post about a product that keeps my at-home manicures pristine for a long time. But when I do find myself in possession of some extra spending money, I often like to get a Shellac nail treatment at a salon, which remains virtually undamaged for weeks. Unfortunately, it seems that beauty option may become a thing of the past, due do manicure-related cancer concerns.
According to a recent study, the Shellac manicure itself isn’t thought to be cancer-causing (yet). However, the treatment does require 10 minutes of exposure under a UV drying machine, which is a longer drying time than typical manicures. This amount of UV exposure is, “similar to what you’d get in a tanning bed,” which we all already know is bad for you. In fact, “a 2009 medical journal article by some dermatologists featured two cases of women who got skin cancer believed to be caused by exposure to UV nail lamps (but not for Shellac manicures).” So if standard UV nail drying can be that detrimental, one can only imagine the potential effects of drying a Shellac manicure. [via Jezebel]
Personally, I eat enough questionable foods, and don’t want one other aspect of my life to be a cancer concern. While Shellac manicures are great, I think I’ll either stick to air drying them, or simply save some money and paint my nails at home.
Do you get Shellac manicures? Have you ever thought about the potential health impact of using UV nail lamps to help dry your nails?
guest
Oh God, another carcinogen -_- What is all this crap? Everything causes everything. One item causes cancer, another has Vitamin shit, and another promotes some other beneficial health crap. It’s all bull. Everything does everything and everything does nothing.
The dosages of things we are exposed to are often so little, so insignificant, that they alone do NOTHING. However, through REPETITIVE, constant, over NINE THOUSAND usage and exposure to these things, there may be a chance of being affected by the predicted effect.
Anyways, thanks for the article. What a pleasant read ^^
dahlia / 2382 posts
Is Shellac the same as Gelish? I’m a noob to all this (though I’m happy my Gelish pedicure is holding up for a month & counting so I hope not! It’s worth the extra $20 because it lasts & I love the color I got!!).
And I agree with @KyrieElise@xanga - what’s NOT going to cause cancer these days? What I want to know is where is the list of things that ISNT going to kill us? lol
But all jokes aside, the amount of time spent in the lamp should be minimal & unless you do your nails like every hour, the exposure should be fine. You get more UV exposure walking outside daily than you do from nail lamps I think. But I like your post, it raises an interesting discussion. I’d honestly be more worried about the ingredients in some nail polishes than the UV lamps. Some polishes have formaldehyde or other irritants in them.
guest
Oh, please. I hate news stories like this. Everything causes something these days. If it’s not this that’s causing cancer, it’s eating certain foods, wearing certain clothes, using phones, wireless internet, electricity, flying and breathing – just enjoy your life and live it. You can’t avoid everything.
guest
i don’t know if it really cause cancer but i did see a news article that says how nail polish would disintegrate styrofoam almost instantly, darker color the most.
it was quite scary.
guest
everything gives you cancer now a days = (
daffodil / 1607 posts
the nailpolish itself is highly toxic
not sure why people are angry or annoyed at this it’s a good thing to know to avoid
it’s like someone telling people that microwaves can actually cause braindamage and people scoffing at it
or to avoid some type of water. if those regulations and warnings weren’t spread then our life span and quality of life would never improve
there are tons of women who get manicures weekly or biweekly. its not just the uv rays that will harm the person, it’s the fumes everywhere from the nailpolish and other chemicals used, and then possible ingestion of the nailpolish itself after it’s painted on. sure maybe if you do it just a few times you won’t get cancedr but it’s goodt o be aware of
guest
Ehhh I like to save the money & do an at home. I always end up bleeding when someone else does them.