Yes, absolutely! UV Nail Lamps ARE safe!
Several high-quality scientific studies performed by world-leading experts have demonstrated that UV nail lamps are safe. Unfortunately, some did not get the word.
Unfortunately, most of the information that the media has released is misleading and/or deceptive. To confuse matters more, several poorly performed scientific studies by amateurs using improper test equipment have created confusion. However, the studies performed by the top UV experts have provided great clarity. These studies show that both LED-style and Fluorescent-style UV nail lamps are safe as used in nail salons.
Now, when I refer to “UV nail lamps”, I’m collectively referring to both LED and Fluorescent-style UV nail lamps. Both emit UV, and both are safe for use in nail salons.
These scientific studies confirmed that, as proper measurements show, these lamps are at least three times safer than sunlight that is directly overhead, and at least eleven times safer than mid-angle sunlight. Mid-angle sunlight occurs around 3 PM, depending on your location in the world. This is when the sun is halfway between being directly overhead and setting on the horizon. For many years, dermatologists have told us that mid-angle sunlight is unlikely to cause sunburn. It is considered safe, even without sunscreen. Yes, UV nail lamps are at least three times safer!
These nail lamps aren’t accidentally safe; they are designed to be safe. For example, they only emit UV-A, which is the safest part of the UV spectrum. Even so, more than 40% of the UV-A range is eliminated completely. No UV-B or UV-C is used to cure nail coatings. These nail lamps use filters to allow only the safest UV-A wavelengths to pass; filtering out all of the UV-A wavelengths that cause the most concern. The low intensity of UV these lamps emitt, in combination with filtering out these wavelengths of concern, is the primary reason scientists consider them to be safer than natural sunlight. A client would have to place their hands under the most powerful UV nail lamps for two hours to even redden the skin.
Interestingly, doctors have been providing medical treatments for psoriasis using UV for many years. They consider these treatments to be very safe. When scientific researchers compared UV nail services to the skin exposure from medical UV psoriasis treatments, they determined that a nail client would have to receive 250 years of weekly UV manicures to equal the risks associated with just one course of these safe medical psoriasis treatments.
This is why one of the world-leading experts in UV effects on the skin, Dr. Robert Sayre says of doctors who suggest these nail lamps may not be safe, “Doctors are grossly over-exaggerating exposures”. Dr. Sayre tested a wide range of UV nail lamps. He used internationally accepted standards and measurement equipment to make this safe use determination.
UV nail lamps are used for eight minutes or less, twice per month. Therefore, your clients have a much greater risk of UV exposure from the sun while driving their car to the salon and back. As long as nail professionals follow instructions and heed all warnings, it is highly unlikely they will overexpose their clients to unsafe levels of UV.
Low levels of UV exposure are considered both safe and necessary for health. It is a common myth that sunlight contains vitamin D when it does not. When we expose our skin to UV, the skin begins to manufacture vitamin D, which is essential to healthy living. Without low levels of UV exposure, people often develop vitamin D deficiencies which can create a wide range of serious adverse health effects. So clearly, there are safe levels of UV skin exposure that are essential for healthy living.
In short, UV nail lamps DO NOT exceed a safe level, which is why Dr. Sayre says about UV nail lamps in general: “this UV source properly belongs in the least risky of all categories” and “UV nail lamps are safer than natural sunlight or sunlamps.”
Don’t let misinformation fool you!
