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Nail Care

The Backstory

Problematic Chemicals
If you've ever been in the same room as someone applying nail polish, you're well aware of the noxious odors emanating from those tiny bottles. Nail polishes have come under fire lately for containing three chemicals dubbed the "toxic trio": toluene, a solvent linked to low birth weight and development problems in children; formaldehyde, a known carcinogen emitted as certain preservatives break down; and dibutyl phthalate, a hormone disrupting chemical used to keep polishes flexible. All three appear on California's Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive harm.

Concern over the health effects that the toxic trio pose to both nail salon workers and to average women led the European Union to ban them from use in cosmetics in 2004. The U.S. has no such legislation, but individual states have started instituting similar laws. California's Safe Cosmetic Act of 2005, which went into effect January 1, 2007, requires companies that sell products in California to report the use of compounds that appear in the Proposition 65 list.

In the absence of federal guidelines, some manufacturers have begun eliminating them on their own. Nail giant OPI has removed both DBP and toluene from all products, although they still use formaldehyde in nail hardeners.  Sally Hansen has also removed toluene and DBP and does not add formaldehyde, but the latter may still be present as a byproduct of urea-based preservatives. According to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Orly International has stopped using DBP as well.

These rules and voluntary changes, however, don't address the other unhealthy ingredients in tiny nail polish bottles. Solvents such as acetone and ethyl, butyl and amyl acetate can trigger headaches, dizziness, and eye, nose and throat irritation. Methacrylate resins, used to make acrylic nails, can irritate skin and cause redness, allergic reactions, pain and swelling in the nail bed. Ethyl and methyl methacrylate are the two adhesives used in applying acrylic nails, and they too are extremely irritating to skin, eyes and respiratory tracts. Methyl methacrylate has generated so many worker complaints of allergic reactions that it has been banned in 30 states.

Social Issues: Nail Salons
The chemicals used in nail products pose a unique threat to nail salon workers, who inhale chemicals that can cause birth defects and cancer day after day. Ninety-five percent of these workers are women, many of child-bearing age, according to the report "Glossed Over: Health Hazards Associated with Toxic Exposure in Nail Salons" by the advocacy group Women's Voices for the Earth.

A 2004 survey of New York City salon employees found that 37 percent often or sometimes had skin problems, 37 percent suffered from eye irritation, 57 percent from allergies and 18 percent from asthma.  On a more severe level, a study published in the March 2002 Neuropsychiatry, Neuropsychology, & Behavioral Neurology found that workers' exposure to solvents and acrylic resins resulted in poor performance on cognitive and attention tests, and they had a less acute sense of smell. Most of these problems have been associated with poor ventilation, but there are currently no government requirements mandating adequate ventilation or other protections from chemicals.

Complicating matters is the fact that a large percentage of salon workers are non-English speakers, making it difficult for them to understand product labels, warnings or other literature on how to minimize exposure to harmful chemicals. Product manufacturers often supply salon owners and employees with material safety data sheets (MSDS) that list specific chemicals and their potential hazards, but these usually aren't printed in a worker's native language. By law, employers are required to explain hazards to their employees, averting the language barrier, but enforcement of the law is lax and this isn't always done.