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Nail Salons

In 2007, the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, and Women’s Voices for the Earth established the National Healthy Nail Salon Alliance (the Alliance).  The Alliance was created to connect activists and organizations dedicated to improving nail salon worker health and safety, as well as to develop a set of policy recommendations that will advance worker rights in this industry.The Alliance maintains this webpage to provide important information and resources about toxic chemicals in nail products, worker health and safety issues, the Alliance’s activities and how you can get involved.

Overview

In the United States, the beauty industry is booming and “manis” and “pedis” are all the rage, as customers want to be pampered with the latest nail designs, colors, and styles.  Even as demands for salon services have grown, little attention has been paid to the impact of occupational exposures on workers in salons.  Yet on a daily basis and often for long hours at a stretch, nail salon technicians handle solvents, glues, polishes, and other nail care products, containing a multitude of unregulated chemicals that are known or suspected to cause cancer, allergies, respiratory illnesses, neurological and reproductive harm. Nail salon workers are particularly at risk for exposure, as they often work in poorly ventilated, small workspaces and with little, if any protective equipment.  The products they use are poorly labeled and although product manufacturers are required to provide information about proper handling techniques, they often fail to do so.

Despite such occupational exposures, there is very limited federal regulation or review of the chemicals used in professional salon products.  It is currently legal for cosmetics manufacturers to use unlimited amounts of virtually any ingredient in salon and professional use products, including chemicals linked to cancer, reproductive and developmental harm, hormone disruption and other adverse health impacts, with no premarket safety assessment.   Of the more than 12,000 chemicals used in personal care and nail products, 89 percent have not been tested independently for their safety or impacts on human health before entering the marketplace. 

Three chemicals of particular concern (dubbed the “toxic trio”) are toluene, formaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate (DBP).  Toluene creates a smooth finish across the nail and keeps the pigment from separating in the bottle, and is a common volatile solvent that can impact the central nervous system, cause irritation of the eyes, throat and lungs, and is also a possible reproductive toxin.  Formaldehyde, a nail-hardening agent, is also a volatile chemical that evaporates into the air of salons and is known to cause cancer. Exposure to DBP, added to polishes to provide flexibility and a moisturizing sheen, can affect thyroid function has been linked to reproductive problems and decreased sperm count in adult men.

Women working in nail salons are increasingly reporting health concerns such as headaches, skin rashes and difficulty breathing, in addition to more serious problems including birth defects, cancers and respiratory illnesses, which may be linked to specific chemicals (or a combination of chemicals) found in nail products.  While acute health affects have been well-documented in salons, additional research is needed on the long-term, chronic health impacts resulting from occupational exposures of salon workers.

Given the environmental health and safety issues facing the nail salon worker population, advocates, nail salon workers and owners, scientists, allies in government agencies and others from across the country are increasingly coming together to develop a multifaceted platform to reduce occupational exposure to harmful chemicals in salons.   And the good news is that certain nail polish manufacturers are beginning to reformulate their products to remove some of the toxic chemicals like dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde and toluene.  Nail salon workers are also taking steps to lessen their exposure to chemicals from nail care products and to advocate for safer products.

The Alliance's priorities include:

1. Movement-Building: Build a movement for nail salon and other beauty sector worker health and safety by engaging allies and groups across the country on the issue, sharing resources and information between participating organizations, and building support among these organizations for policy changes/initiatives and research efforts.
2. Federal Policy: Advocate  for policies that advance worker health and safety in nail salons. We will also research and make recommendations on ways regulatory agencies such as OSHA can better serve the nail salon workforce with respect to toxic chemical exposure.
3. Industry Advocacy:  Research cosmetics and nail product manufactures to better understand points of leverage to reduce the upstream sources of chemical exposure in products.
4. Advance a Research Agenda: Identify key chemical hazards that must be addressed in the workplace.  We will also leverage and advocate for new research to generate additional peer-reviewed data on occupational exposures and health outcomes in order to ultimately advance greater nail salon worker health and safety.