Now that the summer weather has returned, women are once again heeding the call of the nail salon. One of my friends happily waited for over an hour to have her finger and toe nails painted the color of pink cotton candy, accented with tiny rhinestones. The clean look of freshly manicured nails has become an even more popular ritual among men and women in the recent years, creating a nationwide $6.43 billion industry.

Recently there has been a lot of media hype concerning the health concerns in nail salons—in most of these cases the attention was directed to bacterial related outbreaks. Although there are very strict standards for sanitation in nail salons, sometimes a problem isn’t caught until it has affected customers. You should be reassured though, that there are only a few nail establishments that have let their standards slide, and typically there are more germs on your own kitchen counter tops than in salons. Yet, there is one aspect to nail salons that makes frequent or prolonged visits a possible health hazard: the nail products themselves. Do you know what you as a customer are breathing? And do nail salon proprietors realize the risk that they take everyday in terms of customer and employee health—let alone their own? Here are a few of the ingredients that could threaten you health or business:

• Acetone: Solvent in nail polish remover, polish; can cause nose, throat and eye irritation, headaches, confusion, nausea, vomiting, unconsciousness and possibly coma, and shortening of the menstrual cycle.
• Toluene: Solvent in nail polish remover and nail treatments; low levels can cause tiredness, weakness, drunken-type actions, memory loss, nausea, loss of appetite, and hearing and color vision loss; high levels can cause birth defects in children including retarded mental abilities and growth.
• Ethyl methacrylate: Used to form artificial nails; can cause eye and skin irritation, vapors may cause dizziness or suffocation.
• Dibutyl Phthalate: A common ingredient in American nail polishes (illegal in European polish formulas because of higher, healthier standards). Inhalation exposure may cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat as well as nausea, tearing of the eyes, vomiting, dizziness, and headache. Long-term exposures may cause liver and kidney damage. Dibutyl phthalate is suspected to be harmful to pregnant women and their unborn children.

 After considering the range of health issues that arise from the environments created in nail salons, it seems natural that equipment be installed to remove the fumes. The health of customers, nail technicians and even the owners themselves is at risk—why not view air cleaning equipment as an investment, because in all honesty, who wants the resulting health problems?

Consumers: Check out the Environmental Working Group’s webpage for toxicity ratings on different brands of nail products. Nail Salon Owners/Operators: Utilize nail salon air purifiers to deal with the hazards of toxic chemicals in the air– UV technology will break down fumes on a molecular level. Consider purchasing ventilated nail salon tables for particulate– or even installing a small ventilation duct and fan into your existing tables.