Never having had a manicure myself I can’t say that unsafe working conditions for nail salon workers was a big issue for me—or even something that had ever crossed my mind. But then I watched the latest video from Robert Greenwald’s Brave New Foundation which features stories of salon workers who have been working with toxic materials and have developed serious health issues as a consequence.
A new project of the 16 Deaths Per Day campaign, which aims to strengthen support for the Protecting America’s Workers Act (H.R. 2067), the video points out the sort-of unbelievable fact that federal regulations allow cosmetics manufacturers and nail salon owners to use unlimited amounts of virtually any ingredient in salon products, including chemicals linked to cancer, reproductive and developmental harm, hormone disruption and other adverse health effects.
SAN FRANCISCO – Free manicures for the public will kick off a day of activities on Tuesday July 20 devoted to raising awareness of the toxic chemicals in nail polish.
Beginning at noon, nail technicians at the International College of Cosmetology, 1224 Polk Street, San Francisco, will offer the free manicures using nail polish made with safer alternatives to three toxic chemicals. The event will be hosted by advocacy groups California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, Environment California and Asian Law Caucus.
At 12:30 p.m., San Francisco Board of Supervisor President David Chiu will be among those speaking at a press conference at the beauty college. Nail salon workers and other advocates then will walk to City Hall where Sup. Chiu will introduce an ordinance to the Board of Supervisors creating a Nail Salon Recognition Program that will encourage local salons to replace nail polish containing toxic chemicals with safer alternatives. The ordinance is co-sponsored by Supervisors Sophie Maxwell and Michaela Alioto-Pier.
“By recognizing nail salons that prioritize the health and safety of both workers and customers, my legislation is an important first step in addressing the ‘Toxic Trio’ problem,” Sup. Chiu said. “Ultimately, we hope to see manufacturers reformulate their products and stop using harmful chemicals in them altogether.”
For years, three hazardous chemicals have been standard ingredients of nail polish: Dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde and toluene. They are known collectively as the TOXIC TRIO and are associated with cancer, birth defects, asthma and other chronic diseases. Nail salon workers are exposed to these chemicals on a day-to-day basis.
Because these hazards are beginning to become well-known, and because dibutyl phthalate is banned in cosmetics in Europe, many manufacturers have removed these chemicals from their products and proudly advertise their nail polishes as being free of the Toxic Trio or “three-free.” “Three-Free”products are readily available at prices comparable to the prices charged for the products that contain those three highly toxic substances.
Approximately 200 licensed nail salons do business in San Francisco. While workers are pampering their customers with the latest nail treatments and colors, they are being exposed to an array of occupational hazards including toxic chemicals such as the Toxic Trio.
“This ordinance is a groundbreaking first step towards addressing worker health,” says Julia Liou of the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative. “Workers experience chronic illnesses due to the chemicals in nail products that they work with on a daily basis.”
A 2007 study of Vietnamese-American nail technicians suggested an elevated prevalence of work-related health effects, including respiratory symptoms, skin problems and headaches, as compared to the general population.
“Californians are over-exposed to toxic chemicals and here’s an easy way to make nail salons safer for workers and patrons,” said Pamela King Palitz, Environmental Health Advocate for Environment California. “California’s Green Chemistry Initiative should be taking care of problems like this. We need a strong state-wide program to protect Californians from toxic chemicals.”
A premiere of Brave New Foundation’s Film “Overexposed Underinformed” will be screened at the press event. Nail salon workers highlighted in the film and who have faced health and safety issues will be present at the event.
A new video by Robert Greenwald exposes how dangerous it is to have manicures and pedicures. I like this video because it shows that toxic ingredients used in manicures and pedicures not only affect us, the customers, but more importantly, the people working in these salons who are exposed to these toxic chemicals day after day.
I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not contribute to someone else’s breast cancer just so I can have pretty pink toenails.
And it’s not just the workers who get sick. It’s us. When you do a little research you find that getting your nails done is a health hazard.
Toxic Chemicals
The video outlines the “toxic trio” of chemicals used at nail salons and in nail products:
Formaldehyde – used in disinfectants causes cancer and asthma
Toluene – used in nail polish; affects short-term memory and is toxic to developing fetus
Phtalates – used in nail polish; reproductive dangers/birth defects
Of course, these are just a few. There are many other very toxic chemicals used in manicures and pedicures.
How We Get Exposed to Chemicals
Of concern are the fumes you breathe in, but we also need to remember that chemicals are also absorbed through the skin’s pores. It’s funny to me that we know nicotine patches work, and yet we don’t think anything of painting carcinogenic nail polish onto our nails.
According to former manicurist, Sheila Mossberg:
Every time you have a manicure, your nails and the skin or your arms and hands are taking on and absorbing these toxic chemicals and they are being stored in your body’s fatty tissues… (Source: Nontoxique Beauty Blog)
If you don’t buy the idea that nail polish can be absorbed into the blood stream, read this by the Environmental Working Group:
If the DBP (dibutyl phthalate) stayed intact in the polish, women might absorb negligible amounts of the chemical into their bodies. But a group of scientists in Hamburg, Germany showed that water-soluble components of the polish, like DBP, are dissolved out of the polish each time they contact water, a conclusion they reached after measuring the leaching of DBP from nail polish that had dried for three days.
In fact, one of the reasons nail polish eventually chips is that it becomes brittle as DBP is leached out of the film. This means that every time a woman washes her hands, DBP is washed out of her nail polish and contacts her skin. The scientists conclude that “water-soluble components… attain the skin during extensive but transient contact.” Therefore, a woman wearing nail polish not only can absorb DBP through her nail, but also has multiple opportunities to absorb DBP directly through her skin.
Is It Really That Bad?
Some may say I’m overreacting. For example, here’s a quote from a law firm’s website:
People talk about 50,000 parts per million of a phthalate in nail polish being typical of the amount found. It may sound like a lot. It’s five percent. Yet if a woman used and absorbed all of the dibutyl phthalate from five – 5 – full bottles of nail polish every day, her exposure would still be about equal to a level that produced no effects in laboratory animals.
What this hypothetical example doesn’t take into account is that those lab rats are not being exposed to phthalates in other products as well. In reality, most beauty and personal care products contain phthalates. In 2002, a phthalates report was released that showed that three quarters of off-the-shelf beauty products contained phthalates — but they were not listed on the label. (Source: Breast Cancer Risk in California Nail Salon Workers)
Besides that, what do they mean when they say “no effects in laboratory animals”? OK, so they didn’t die. Maybe they didn’t develop huge, obvious tumors. But how do we know what happened to them? How long did they study them? I may not have a tumor now, but what about next year or the year after?
Oh, and by the way, if you read the fine print on that law firm website, it says, “Information courtesy of phthalates.com.” Gee, I wonder who runs phthalates.com?
The thing is, all the chemicals we consume via the air, our skin, our food, do end up in our bodies. As Sheila Mossberg said above, these chemicals get stored in our fatty tissue. Like our breasts.
Personally, I’d like to avoid breast cancer. So I’m steering clear of nail polish.
Safe Alternatives
If you really want to get your nails done, there are some safe options. According to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics:
Several companies … make nail polishes, treatments and removers without harmful chemicals… So you don’t have to give up your mani-pedi visits, just BYOP (Bring Your Own Polish) the next time you go!
Here are some sources for truly non-toxic nail polish (1-3 hazard score on the Skin Deep Cosmetic Database):
Board of Supervisors President David Chiu on Tuesday plans to introduce Healthy Nail Salon legislation that would direct the Department of the Environment, in conjunction with the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, to create a so-called “Nail Salon Recognition Program.”
The program would identify and publically acknowledge those nail salons that use nail products free of toxic chemicals like toluene, DBP and formaldehyde chemicals, also known as the “toxic trio,” according to the legislation. Toluene, for example, is a “developmental and neurological toxicant that causes headaches, dizziness, and nausea, among others.” The intent is to “encourage nail salon owners and technicians to become aware of potential hazards posed by ingredients in nail products and actively choose the least toxic nail polishes.”
Chiu considers the legislation a step toward ultimately ridding all nail polishes of toxic chemicals.
In San Francisco, there are 200 nail salon establishments with 1,800 nail technicians.
After being introduced Tuesday, the legislation would then sit for at least 30 days before being heard by a Board of Supervisors committee. It would require approval by the full board to go into effect.
Imagine going to work every day and exposing yourself regularly to toxic chemicals that were eroding your health. Next time you get a mani/pedi, you should ask the same question. Nail salon workers throughout the country work under unnecessarily toxic and dangerous conditions.
Under current federal regulations, cosmetics manufacturers can 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. Workers can and should be better protected from exposure to toxic chemicals in their workplaces. Will you join us in taking action to protect these workers? Everyone has the right to a safe and healthy working environment. The women and men who work in these salons deserve better. A high percentage of nail salon workers are Vietnamese immigrants who find economic stability through the profession. As the video above shows, these workers take pride in what they do. They shouldn’t also have to take health risks.
Congress has the ability to better regulate cosmetic manufacturers. No one should go to work in an environment that could cause cancer, reproductive harm and other health risks. Tell your Congress members that we can do better as a country. Sign our petition to demand stronger regulations and stronger worker protections.
Imagine going to work every day and exposing yourself regularly to toxic chemicals that were eroding your health. Next time you get a mani/pedi, you should ask the same question. Nail salon workers throughout the country work under unnecessarily toxic and dangerous conditions.
Under current federal regulations, cosmetics manufacturers can 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. Workers can and should be better protected from exposure to toxic chemicals in their workplaces. Will you join us in taking action to protect these workers?
Everyone has the right to a safe and healthy working environment. The women and men who work in these salons deserve better. A high percentage of nail salon workers are Vietnamese immigrants who find economic stability through the profession. As the video above shows, these workers take pride in what they do. They shouldn’t also have to take health risks.
Congress has the ability to better regulate cosmetic manufacturers. No one should go to work in an environment that could cause cancer, reproductive harm and other health risks. Tell your Congress members that we can do better as a country. Sign our petition to demand stronger regulations and stronger worker protections.
Have you ever walked into a nail salon and wondered about the chemical smell of gasoline mixed with industrial solvents?
You might be smelling the standard ingredients of most nail polishes used in salons or sold in drugstores. Take a look at your own nail polish bottles, do they have dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde and toluene as listed ingredients? The Asian Law Caucus warns that this toxic trio has been associated with “cancer, birth defects, asthma and other chronic diseases.” And, according to them, it’s bad enough having that sort of cocktail painted onto our nails, but imagine the cumulative effects that nail salon workers must suffer from being exposed to these chemicals everyday.
In conjunction with such advocacy groups as the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, Environment California, the Law Caucus is working to raise awareness of the toxic chemicals commonly found in most nail polishes. On Tuesday, July 20th nail technicians at the International School of Cosmetology (1224 Polk Street) will offer complimentary “green” manicures beginning at 12 p.m. At 12:30, according to the press release sent to the Appeal, “Nail salon workers and other advocates then will walk to City Hall where Sup. Chiu will introduce an ordinance to the Board of Supervisors creating a Nail Salon Recognition Program that will encourage local salons to replace nail polish containing toxic chemicals with safer alternatives.”
There are approximately 200 licensed nail salons in San Francisco, and the proposed ordinance would be a “a groundbreaking first step towards addressing worker health,” says Julia Liou from the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative.
What: Free “green” manicures
When: 12 noon Tuesday, July 20
Where: International School of Cosmetology, 1224 Polk Street
I haven’t had my nails done in a while, so I’m thinking of showing up for a free manicure on Tuesday at the International College of Cosmetology in San Francisco.
Adding to the incentive, I’m assured that nail polish, should I choose to have some applied, will be free of the worst chemicals.
I don’t know if San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu will also be taking advantage – he’s probably wondering how it might affect his political future – but he’ll be there, pushing an ordinance to create a Nail Salon Recognition Program that would encourage salons to use safer nail polish.
More than two-thirds of injured or sick workers in a recent survey feared employer discipline or even losing their jobs if their injuries were reported, a new study from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed today.
The GAO surveyed more than 1,000 occupational health practitioners and found:
More than two-thirds observed worker fear for reporting an injury or illness.
A third said they were pressured by employers to provide insufficient treatments to workers to hide or downplay work-related injuries or illnesses.
More than half of practitioners said they were pressured by an employer to downplay an injury or illness so it wouldn’t be reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s official log that tracks workplace injuries and illnesses.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says the GAO report confirms what rank-and-file workers, local union safety activists and workplace safety professionals have long said:
Employer policies and practices that discourage the reporting of workplace injuries and illnesses are widespread and are undermining the safety and health of America’s workers….These destructive and discriminatory practices must be stopped.
Injury and illness records help OSHA allocate its resources, accurately target its inspections and evaluate the success of efforts to improve workplace health and safety. Employers underreport injury and illness rates because lower rates likely lead to fewer inspections, improve their competitiveness when bidding for new contracts and lower their workers’ compensation costs.
The report also confirms a recent survey of local unions by the AFL-CIO and national unions that found many employer “safety” programs actually discourage reporting and recording of workplace injuries.
More than half of local union leaders surveyed reported there were safety incentive programs, injury discipline programs, absenteeism policies with demerits for injuries and/or post-injury drug testing policies in their workplaces and that these policies discouraged the reporting of workplace injuries by workers.
Says Trumka:
Employer policies that discourage the reporting of injuries not only undermine the completeness and accuracy of workplace injury data and the Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys. More importantly, they prevent injured workers from receiving needed medical care and prevent hazardous conditions that injure workers from being identified and corrected.
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis says OSHA will hit hard employers who underreport injuries and illnesses:
Many of the problems identified in the report are quite alarming, and OSHA will be taking strong enforcement action where we find underreporting.
The GAO report was requested by Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Reps. George Miller (D-Calif.) and Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) The four are the chief sponsors of the Protecting America’s Workers Act, which would give OSHA additional tools to combat underreporting of injuries and illnesses by employers.
Says Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee:
We cannot allow the lack of accurate information to permit hazardous working conditions to go unaddressed, putting workers’ health and lives at risk. The GAO report underscores the need for OSHA to have all the tools they need to eliminate incentives that result in underreporting injuries.
Harkin, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. says the underreporting of injuries and illnesses is “undermining the health and safety of America’s workers.”
If we don’t know the full extent of the workplace hazards workers face, we cannot fully address these risks. We need to take steps to require employers to provide a full account of on-the-job injuries and to protect workers, so they can report workplace incidents without fear of retaliation.
Be sure to check out “16 Deaths Per Day,” a video by Brave New Films that highlights the weak deterrence and penalties of the nation’s workplace safety laws.
Culver City — Brave New Foundation launches a new worker health and safety campaign, highlighting the weak enforcement mechanisms and poor deterrents currently in place in worker safety laws. Under current worker safety laws, civil penalties are weak and rarely lead to criminal prosecutions.
“It is only a six month misdemeanor if [an employer] willfully commits a violation of worker safety laws. It is only considered a misdemeanor if a worker dies.” David Uhlmann, Professor and Director of Environmental Law and Policy Programs at Michigan University.
“[The companies] consider OSHA a mosquito. They’d rather pay the fines than bring the plants into compliance [with the laws]. They think the law is so ineffective that it’s more profitable for them to take the risk by not having safety programs in place than to comply with the law.” Charles Jeffress, Former Assistant Secretary of Labor, OSHA
The goal of the 16 Deaths Per Day campaign is to strengthen support for the Protecting America’s Workers Act (H.R. 2067), which aims at toughening both enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and penalties for violating the law. If H.R. 2067 passes, it will be the first time work and safety laws are strengthened in twenty-years.
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