Many are afraid to make a manicure with gel polish, as it is used to curing it with ultraviolet light, and this can supposedly provoke skin cancer. We decided to check if these fears are justified.
The fact that manicure using UV lamp is harmful to health, provokes cancer and even damages DNA in January 2023 Reported many Russian media (for example, "Snob","Gazeta.ru","Moscow Komsomolets","Fifth channel", TV channel"World"Et al.), female And Scientific and popular Portals, sites about Medicine. The potential danger of such a procedure is written Users social networks And Platform blog. Visitors to services are also interested in this questions And answers.
Among the services of beauty salons, manicure with a long -term is now very popular coating -gel polish (material from a mixture of gel and pigment, for the curing of which lamps are used-UV or LED). Sometimes it is called shellac in conversational speech, but this is a mistake. Shellac (Shellac) - this is the product of CND, the first coverage of this type that appeared on the market in 2009. Another type of manicure, for the fixing of which a lamp is needed, and it is ultraviolet, - gel building nails (do not need to be confused with gel polish, these are different procedures). As part of such funds located The photographer component (for example, benzoid peroxide), which, under the influence of light in seconds, transforms liquid methacrylate-another component of gel polishes-into a firm polymer.
The reason that in January 2023 many large Russian and world media became interested in the connection between the use of lamps for manicure and the development of skin cancer was new study, conducted by scientists from the University of California at San Diego and University of Pittsburgh (USA). They took Fibroblasts (type of cells responsible for the formation of connective tissue) the mouse embryo, as well as fibroblasts from the foreskin and epidermal Keratinocytes (the main type of cells of the upper layer of the skin) of a person and exposed to ultraviolet lamps - those used in manicure salons. The duration of the effect was up to 20 minutes, the cells irradiated from one to three times. Some of those cells that were subjected to triple irradiation were subjected to the procedure for one day with a break of an hour, the other part - one once for three days. It turned out that a single 20-minute irradiation led to the death of 20-30% of any type of cells, and a three-fold effect on the death of 65–70%.
In addition, cell irradiation with such a lamp damages DNA, declared Lyudmil Alexandrov, one of the authors of the study. Moreover, some of these damage did not restore over time and the DNA molecule mutated further with each next effect of the lamps. Scientists have noticed that such an effect can cause dysfunction Mitochondria (cell elements that break down the nutrients and help it “eat”), which can also lead to additional mutations. In patients with skin cancer, the same patterns of mutations were previously seen.
But if the lamps are so harmful, how did it happen that they are used everywhere in the salons? It is known that ultraviolet (that is natural, what is radiated by devices) can really be carcinogenic for a person. Nevertheless, the Office for Sanitary Supervision of the quality of food and US medicines (FDA) He thinks Lamps for gel polish are low hazardous, if you use them according to the instructions-usually no more than ten minutes per hand per session. Council for Combating Cancer (Australia) reportsthat at the moment there are no serious studies of ultraviolet lamps that would prove the connection between their use during manicure and the development of cancer. In addition, experts are added, as a rule, the radiation level in such lamps is low, and the exposure time is short. Skin cancer fund (USA) He emphasizesthat the radiation of even the most intense manicure lamps is much lower than those used for tanning in tanning beds. And the authors of the study, which many media have recently been talked about, Markthat the results of the experiment on cells are not quite representative for real human skin, where at least there is a keratinized layer of the epidermis that protects cells from ultraviolet radiation. So there is no reason to think that one, even a 20-minute manicure session using a lamp will kill 30% of the skin cells on the arm.
The mentioned study was carried out, as they say, in vitro (from lat. "In glass", that is, in the test tube). Unlike studies in vivo (that is, in a living organism), this species allows you to study cells (or any other tissues) in detail, without any distracting factors, but does not allow to get a full -fledged idea of the reaction of the entire living creature, since the conditions occurring within the body cannot reproduce. Therefore, the results of such tests should be approached with caution, since there are no guarantees that the result obtained outside the body will be just as fair for a living creature. Our colleagues-factory are already exposed some Fakes During the pandemic of coronavirus, when the drugs that showed some effectiveness in vitro were attributed to treat the in vivo virus.
There are several varieties skin cancer - Depending on which cells are struck by them. The most common of them:
- Basal cell carcinoma-uncontrolled growth basal cells in the upper layer of the skin (epidermis). This is the most common skin cancer;
- Squamine carcinoma - malignant tumor epidermal keratinocytes spreading to the dermis;
- Melanoma - cancer developing from melanocytes, skin cells that produce melanin (pigment that gives the skin the color). The most dangerous of these three types.
In 2012, specialists of the Institute of Cellular Medicine of the University of Newkal (Great Britain) built A mathematical model to calculate how many women should make manicure using ultraviolet lamps every two to three weeks, so that at least one of them directly resulting from these procedures, flat cell skin cancer on the back. The model took into account the age, the regularity of UV exposure, and the risk of developing cancer was compared when using such lamps with a risk from a simple sun stay. Researchers came to the conclusion that only one of the dozens, or even hundreds of thousands of women who regularly make such a manicure can develop, so that this risk is very low and “probably acceptable for most women” can develop.
American experts from Rapid Precision Testing Laboratories using spectral weighing (measurements of biological effects that sun or artificial light with ultravioletus have on people or the environment) according to the method of the International Commission for Cloth Compared The risks of the development of non-lineous skin cancer due to the use of lamps for manicure and due to the effects of sunlight (when the sun is right above the head and when the rays fall at an angle). Researchers studied six different models of lamps of different power. It turned out that with the equivalent time of exposure, the risk of sunlight above the head is 11–46 times (depending on the model of the device) is higher, and on those that fall on the skin at an angle - 3-12 times higher than from manicure lamps.
In 2020, American dermatologists conducted a systematic review medical literature on patients who previously made manicure using ultraviolet lamps, with melanoma or non -linear types of cancer on the back of the hands and nail matrix (The place where the nail is “arranged”). They searched for patients under 40 years old in the database of scientific publications Pubmed, as well as using the program Seer (The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) analyzed indicators of incidence of melanoma skin in people under the age of 39 from 1975 to 2016 and the incidence of melanoma in patients of all ages from 2007 to 2016. As a result, they did not find a single case registered in studies when a patient under 40 years of age regularly made a gel manicure and at the same time had a non -lineous skin cancer or melanoma on the back of the hands or nail matrix. The Seer program used to analyze the incidence of melanoma, has not revealed any changes among patients under the age of 65 years. Having studied the data of the previously conducted studies, experts came to the conclusion that there is practically no carcinogenic risk from using such lamps.
Nevertheless, several cases when skin cancer on the back of the hands developed in people after they regularly made a manicure using ultraviolet lamps, it is still known. So, two patients There were no other significant risk factors like a hereditary predisposition, regular open -air work with placellular cancer. However, “after” here it does not necessarily mean “because”: the authors of the article who spoke about these cases themselves emphasize that it is impossible to draw any convincing conclusions on them. Fixed Another case of skin cancer in a patient who has done a manicure every two to three weeks for 18 years. Like the previous ones, she did not have cancer in a family history, but in addition to the manicure, she also often went to the solarium, so it is also difficult to establish a causal relationship here.
At the same time, of course, it is worth considering that in different beauty salons there are lamps of different brands that may differ in power, which means that you have a different effect. So, in 2014, American dermatologists Compared radiation emitted by lamps in 16 different salons, with an ultraviolet radiation energy density causing DNA damage (600 kJ/m2), and revealed that for harm to keratinocyte cells, only 8 to 208 sessions are enough (depending on the type of lamps). It sounds scary, but in fact, the frequency of DNA damage caused by the effects of natural cellular metabolites, Reaches, according to some estimates, tens of thousands of events per day for each cage. In other words, approximately every 9 seconds. DNA damaged In the process of life. But the good news is that our body is able to naturally restore its DNA. Cancer can develop if the ability of DNA to self-healing is reduced due to hereditary mutations (which is why family history is taken into account in many studies) or, for example, if the damage is so frequent and strong that the body does not have time to cope with them and they begin to accumulate. So despite the fact that in some cases the DNA was damaged after the eighth manicure session, this does not at all indicate the risk of cancer. Researchers note that although the risk of multiple manicure using lamps remains unknown, since the study did not take part in the scientists, the data indicate that even when this procedure is repeatedly performed, the risk of cancer remains small.
In many salons, instead of ultraviolet lamps, LED lamps (LED) are used, and some think that they are safer. However, experts Emphasizethat both of these types emit ultravioletus, and, oddly enough, LED - Even in more quantities, but due to this, the varnish freezes faster and the exposure time is reduced.
Thus, so far there is no sufficient evidence that the regular use of ultraviolet lamps in a manicure of ultraviolet lamps significantly increases the risk of skin cancer. Moreover, many experts Markthat in order to finally put an end to this issue, additional studies are needed. In addition, it matters how often you make such a manicure - if a couple of times a year, then They say Experts, there is nothing to worry about, but if every week, it may be worth taking precautions. About it too It is worth thinking Those who have increased sensitivity to UV rays-for natural reasons or as a result of taking any drugs. To reduce the risk of any negative effects of ultraviolet lamps on the skin, specialists Recommend Apply (or legs, if you make pedicure) a waterproof sunscreen with a SPF 30 and higher protection factor or put on gloves where only the fingertips will be open.
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