Making nail salons healthier for workers

1. Making nail salons healthier for workers, clients
Stephanie M. Lee
Published 5:53 pm, Tuesday, January 7, 2014
When the time comes for a glittering
soiree or a beach visit that demands flip-
flops, nail salons are where women turn
for pampering and polish. But under the
luxurious veneer, salons aren't always
healthy places to be.
At the salon where she once worked for
four years, Hai Nguyen breathed and
touched harsh chemicals in the polishes
and other beauty products she used on
hundreds of women. The repeated
exposures left her with itchy eyes,
breathing difficulties and skin rashes, she
recalled.
But on a recent day at her new job,
Nguyen, 56, showed no signs of distress as she coated a woman's fingernails in pale pink.
"I don't have the symptoms anymore," she said in Vietnamese, through an interpreter. "The smell's not here at
this store."
She now works at Leann's Nails in Alameda, one of a growing number of California salons that are switching to
products and policies that are safer for workers and customers.
Last year, Alameda County's Department of Environmental Health began a Healthy Nail Salon Recognition
Program to push its roughly 350 salons, which employ 1,000 manicurists, to adopt healthier practices. San
Francisco was the first city in the nation to launch such a program in 2012, and Santa Monica followed in July.
Alameda County publicly honored Leann's Nails and six other salons last month for becoming certified in its
program. Requirements include installing proper ventilation and ensuring employees wear gloves. Salons also
must significantly limit their use of products with chemicals that are health hazards.
"These people are working with these materials constantly," said Pamela Evans, the coordinator of Alameda
County's nail salon program. "They're being used right in very close proximity to people's breathing zones."
In the eyes of Lan-Anh "Leann" Truong, who has run Leann's Nails for almost 15 years, the decision to be
certified makes sense.
"Being in a healthy nail salon is good for my staff, good for my customers, good for my environment," she said.
Nail technician Hai
Nguyen paints the
fingernails of Alaa
Muhsin at Leann's
Nails, recognized as a
healthy salon.

2. Losingthe'toxictrio'
The polishes shelved on Truong's walls come in every hue, from turquoise to fuchsia, but a sign makes it clear
that they do not contain what health officials refer to as the "toxic trio": dibutyl phthalate, toluene and
formaldehyde.
Exposure to these compounds can result in headaches, dizziness and irritations in the eyes, skin, nose and
throat. It can also lead to more severe, long-term problems.
Dibutyl phthalate, which gives polishes flexibility and a moisturizing sheen, is linked to developmental problems
in animals. Toluene, which is used to create a smooth look in polishes, can cause damage to the liver and
kidneys and harm unborn children during pregnancy. And formaldehyde, which hardens polish, is a carcinogen.
Those are just the polishes. Businesses that join the county's Healthy Nail Salon Recognition Program also
must stay away from polish removers with butyl acetate, methyl acetate and ethyl acetate, which collectively can
cause drowsiness and irritate the eyes, skin and other parts of the body.
Finally, salons must not use thinners - which remove thick clumps from polish - that contain toluene or methyl
ethyl ketone, which is associated with upset stomachs, headaches and loss of appetite.
Environment regulators and consumer advocates have long been trying to limit these exposures. The federal
Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires employers to evaluate workers' exposure to dust and
chemical vapors, and, if the levels are a health risk, provide workers with respiratory gear for protection. Most
work in a nail salon will not require respiratory protection if proper ventilation and safe work practices are in
place, according to the agency.
Misleadingclaims
But it can be difficult to properly evaluate chemical exposures, especially because some nail products that claim
to be free of the "toxic trio" in fact contain one or more of the hazardous chemicals, according to a 2012 analysis
of 25 randomly selected products by the state's Department of Toxic Substances Control.
Symptoms can also worsen when they go unreported, as is often the case among the thousands of Vietnamese
women employed in salons, said Julia Liou, co-founder of the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, a
health advocacy group.
Of California's estimated 300,000 licensed nail technicians, about 80 percent are of Vietnamese descent, Liou
said. Many do not speak English well, feel uncomfortable complaining to management and are of child-bearing
age, when reproductive poisons can be particularly harmful.
"Workers often feel very powerless to invoke their rights to have a healthy workplace," said Liou, who is also
director of program planning and development at Asian Health Services, an Oakland community health center.
Truong, the owner of Leann's Nails, said nontoxic products can cost more than their toxic counterparts, but
going "green" also attracts environmentally conscious patrons.
"The customers come back to me and recommend me to other people," said Truong, who hangs a sign about
her certification in the front window.
This approach won over Alaa Muhsin, 24, of Alameda, who recently stopped in for a pedicure and manicure.
Her old polish was removed using a fresh slice of lemon, no industrial chemicals needed.
"You can really feel the difference," she said.

3. For more information
Learn more about programs that promote safety in nail salons and find a salon near you.
Alameda County: www.acgov.org/aceh
San Francisco: www.sfenvironment.org/article/worker-health/healthy-nail-salon-recognition-program
Stephanie M. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: slee@sfchronicle.com Twitter:
@stephaniemlee