The Toxicity of Nail Salons

[angi_is_altered]

You don't have to be a gal who gets her nails done to have experienced the fumes of a modern nail salon. Walk past any nail kiosk in a mall and you'll be smacked in the face by the toxic odors emanating from small shops, almost always staffed by young immigrant women of color.
A 2007 report  from Women's Voices of the Earth details what many

Comments

[clevermanka]

Thank you for the PSA. And for the link to the reference card. Yay OPI and Seche!

[angi_is_altered]

No problem! I have only had my nail done a few times in my life,but I do notice when we walk places like this and the smells that come out of the door. So I learned something new today as well.

[mercystars]

I was a nail tech back in the days before any real awareness of nail product chemicals and would get terrible abdominal cramps and headaches from breathing in the fumes and acrylic dust all day. It's the reason I had to retire from that profession and look for something else to do. Lucky for me I was able to find something else.

Unfortunately, there are still a lot of cheap imported nail products (specifically acrylic nail products) that are full of banned chemicals (like MMA, methyl methacrylate) in use in many places because they're so much cheaper than the "safe" stuff.

[claire_chan]

Further reason to appreciate the colour your nails naturally take.

If few customers get their nails painted, naturally the salons will falter and diminish in number.

[anonymissity]

It's not so much the polish as it is that acrylic crap. Have you ever had your nails done? There are like 5-10 other things they put on your nails before polish ever even happens. That acrylic powder and the stuff the dip it in to make it soft and malleable are probably the worst things in there. And then there's primer, the cuticle melters, the dust from Dremeling off old hardened acrylic, basecoats, top coats....
ssoooooo much stuff in there.
You don't even need to have any color applied to your nails to get a full range of horrible crap on and in you. A regular manicure (as opposed to a full set of acrylics) is still really bad.

I admit, I'll get my nails done a couple of times a year, but yeah--holy shit the stuff they use is enough to make you cry just thinking about it :(

Icon and username love

[claire_chan]

I haven't at a parlor, just at home.

[whynotplay]

off topic but l o l your icon is glorious

[fading_october]

I had a boyfriend who was born without a sense of smell, as well as his sister and younger brother (his youngest brother had a very weak sense) because his mother owned and operated a nail salon and refused to wear a mask or any other protective gear while pregnant. The brother with the weaker sense of smell was when she handed operation duties to another family member while she just worked in the office.

[cheez_ball]

Every time I walk past one of these salons I wonder how they can pass OSHA inspection without more ventilation. Probably because OSHA has never inspected them. Ditto for hair salons (Re: perm chemicals).

That said I have to point out that "organic" does not equate to non-toxic.

I'm curious as to why they're just now reporting on a 2007 review?

[obeseskeleton]

i think 'organic' only means natural and safe when applied to food

[cheez_ball]

Even when applied to food "organic" does not mean safe.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/dining/04cert.html

[obeseskeleton]

this is why i'm on a low-marketing diet