Trips to nail salons are favorite self-care rituals in the U.S. Their popularity is easily seen in the numbers: spending on nail salon services tops 8.36 billion dollars in the United States every year. While most customers tolerate the chemical smells of polishes and solvents for their brief visit, a research study is highlighting the hidden risks to nail salon workers. Shockingly, working in a nail salon exposes technicians to a similar level of chemicals as oil refinery workers and auto garage technicians. (1, 2)
Nail Salons And VOCs
Lupita Montoya is an environmental engineer at the University of Colorado Boulder. As a first-generation scientist, Montoya studies indoor air quality. Nail salons, with their pungent chemical smells, were the best candidate to conduct her research. She wanted to see how minority workers were impacted by their working environments. It turns out the hazards were more extreme than she imagined. (3)
Montoya and her research team measured specific compounds in the air at 6 Colorado nail salons. Their primary target? VOCs, or volatile organic compounds. These compounds can be toxic, easily transforming into vapors and gases. Since acrylic nails, nail polish, and removers release VOCs into the air, manicurists face exposure to them all day long. The research revealed high VOC levels that regularly exceed the threshold for safety. This includes the known carcinogens benzene and formaldehyde, both of which are especially toxic. (2)
How VOCs Affect Your Health
Visiting nail salons every once in a while hasn’t been shown to greatly impact a person’s health–but nail salon workers are a different story. Because nail technicians often spend long hours and many years working around these chemicals, they’re at greater risk for health problems. Of the participants surveyed in Montoya’s research project, 70% reported experiencing short-term health problems related to their work at the salon. (2)
In the short term, VOCs can cause a range of problems. Headaches, dizziness, and irritation to the skin, eyes, and throat are common problems. In the study, long-term risks were also assessed. After 20 years of employment, the risk of getting cancer significantly increases. Because many OSHA guidelines are either unclear or inaccessible to these small business owners, nail salon owners and employees are usually unaware of the dangers. (4)
Ways To Solve The Problem
Montoya is taking her research a step further. Aside from simply identifying the compounds, ways to clean the air have also been investigated. For example, Montoya tests show that activated carbon best absorbs the harmful VOCs.
To add the carbon to the room without people noticing, Montoya partnered with artist Camila Friedman-Gerlicz. By working with salon owners, they created pieces of art made with activated carbon to put on salon walls. While still in the experimental stage, these art pieces could lower the risks to workers. By adding proper ventilation, charcoal face masks, and nitrile gloves, the risk can be reduced even further. (2, 4)
Ultimately, Montoya wants to make sure the salon workers have access to help. Many nail salons are independently owned by minorities and immigrants. By ensuring they have access to health and safety information, salons will be able to keep their employees–and themselves–safe.
