Nail Salons Go Green, Ask Manufacturers to Come Clean

International Examiner
Sian Wu
July 5, 2009

ll hit you—a harsh chemical smell that leaves you gasping for air. What if you had to work under those fumes all day long, day in, day out? The health hazards of working with these chemicals have long been known by nail salon workers, a job dominated by Asian American women. Now those health impacts are being taken seriously by the product manufacturers and the local government.

The National Healthy Nail Salon Alliance recently released a report that found many nail polishes no longer contain the worst of these chemicals—dibutyl phthalates (DBP), toluene and formaldehyde. However, companies still use these chemicals in many of the other products that are used in salons—including top coats, removers and glues used in acrylic nails.

“Salon workers come into contact with these products on a daily basis, so they are more vulnerable to the health hazards of toxic chemicals,” said Alexandra Scranton, director of science and research at the non-profit Women’s Voices for the Earth, and co-author of the report. “This is concerning because those chemicals have been linked to asthma, cancer, and reproductive problems.”

DBP has been linked to physical problems in baby boys and decreased sperm count in adult men. Other studies found that nail salon workers with high levels of these chemicals in their bodies tend to experience dizziness, headaches, skin and eye irritation and breathing difficulties.

Often, getting pregnant is a motivating factor for workers to finally leave work. It’s difficult for salon workers to discuss changes with owners, since replacing toxic products with “green” ones or installing a better ventilation system can be a more expensive alternative. And getting educated on chemical names and scientific studies is a challenge for those with limited English ability.

“We heard from a number of Vietnamese nail salon workers that they were getting sick, experiencing miscarriages and birth defects. They suspected this was coming from the chemicals,” says Nancy Chung, reproductive justice fellow for the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum. “So we created the National Healthy Nail Salon Alliance.”

That Alliance is working to make sure these stories are being told. This year, they hosted a convening of advocates and salon workers for the first time in Oakland, where salon workers demanded safer working conditions and better regulation of the chemicals in nail products. Currently, these products are not reviewed or regulated by the U.S. government before it’s put to use in salons.

“There are quite a few reproductive toxins and carcinogenic chemicals that still remain in products,” says Julia Liou of Asian Health Services and the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative. “And there’s an increase of breast cancer incidents among nail salon workers. We heard a story of a woman with no family history of breast cancer who discovered lumps in her breasts. She, like many others, was too scared to go to the doctor since it would mean giving up their livelihood. Given this economy, she’d rather just not know.”

The King County Hazardous Waste Department is also working to educate salon workers on how to create a healthier work environment. Doing simple things like providing free gloves and safety glasses, voucher incentives and worker training can make a difference in their safety.

“Because workers get really close to their clients, it’s easy for these chemicals to splash onto the skin or eyes,” says Laurie Foster, environmental investigator for King County.

 “These programs are making a difference and resulting in real behavior change.”
Foster, like the Alliance, is working to make sure these women don’t have to choose between their health and their livelihood. The Alliance and consumers are urging manufacturers to remove all toxic and hazardous ingredients from all nail salon products. Until there’s a law banning those ingredients, manufacturers have the power to improve lives, and make better, healthier products.

For more information on local programs to reduce chemical exposure to nail salon workers, call Laurie Foster at (206) 263-3061 or Tram Duong (Vietnamese) at (206) 778-4616. More info at www.ecoss.org/nailsalons.