The devices are a common fixture in nail salons, and generally use a particular spectrum of UV light to cure the chemicals used in gel manicures. While tanning beds use a different spectrum of UV light that studies have conclusively proven to be carcinogenic, the spectrum used in the nail dryers has not been well studied.
Maria Zhivagui, a postdoctoral scholar in the Alexandrov Lab and first author of the study, prepares human cells in Petri dishes for exposure to the manicure curing device. Credit: David Baillot/ UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineeringdamage in the remaining cells and resulted in mutations with patterns that can be observed in skin cancer in humans.
Maria Zhivagui, a postdoctoral scholar in the Alexandrov Lab and first author of the study, used to be a fan of gel manicures herself, but has sworn off the technique after seeing the results. Three cell types were exposed to two different conditions: acute exposure and chronic exposure to the UV light device, pictured here. Credit: David Baillot/ UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering