Welcome to your local Manicure Salon; Disease, Disfigurement and possibly Death await you.

When going to get a manicure the last thing on your mind is the risk of major infection, permanent disfigurement, miscarriage, cancer or even death. Yet for clients and workers in manicure salons these risks are a real threat.

I have often been assailed by that permanent reek of hardcore chemicals when walking past any manicure salon. This made me wonder at the health implications for the clients and more especially the workers, confined for 4hrs a stretch, year after year, in an obviously chemically hazardous environment. So it turns out after a bit of research that there are two key ongoing global health concerns with manicure salons. The first was the verification the chemical exposure for the workers; the second was a more insidious client risk from incorrectly or non-sanitised instruments.

“The intensity of exposure for salon workers is 1,200 times what it would be for the average…”-Sonya Lunder, NPO Environmental Working Group US.

“They work long hours. They might be women of childbearing age. They might bring children to the workplace…These are all factors that go into a situation of creating needless exposure to chemicals.” - Grant Nakayama, E.P.A. US.

Studies undertaken by Wayne State University, Detroit, have shown that long term manicurists consistently scored lower on a range of mental tests for memory, attention, and processing. Another study by the University of Toronto showed that children born to manicurists also scored lower on similar tests, suggesting pre-natal chemical exposure negatively affected their in utero growth and development.

Of the range of chemicals used in manicuring today Formaldehyde, Toluene, and Dibutyl Phthalate are known cancer and birth defect causing agents. Toluene is a strong solvent used in removing applied nails and varnishes; Formaldehyde does the opposite and strengthens applications etc; DB gives nail polish its smooth plasticity when applied. So what do the associated primary nail care manufactures have to say about the daily use and exposure to such hazardous chemicals?

“If you have proper ventilation, you’ll avoid a majority of issues. Cosmetics are safe when used properly and according to manufacturer warnings.” -Doug Schoon, co-chairman of the Nail Manufacturers Council.

But after this blithe disclaimer of a statement he does go on to say;

“Nothing happens the first 25 times, but people become sensitive. This is something that nail salon manufacturers are trying to address.” -Doug Schoon

I am pretty sure that being exposed 25 times as a manicurist could happen in single week or perhaps even in one busy day. OPI Products a major US supplier are beginning to phase out Toluene and DB, but what about the rest of the world’s manufacturers and what about Formaldehyde and the host of other chemicals?

It would seem that being a manicurist automatically puts you in the lottery ranks of the 160 million/year reported cases of work related illness that leads to the 2 million/year of work related deaths. It could also mean in light of the facts, if your manicurist proudly proclaims to be a fourth generation manicurist; you should perhaps hit that door running, why? Perhaps from public exposure and personal experience Paula Abdul should tell you why.

“This horrific and debilitating condition was left under my thumb nail as a direct result of the salon using non-sanitized instruments. This type of infection has caused not only me, but thousands of women the expense of medical attention, loss of wages, loss of sleep, traumatic medical procedures, fear of returning to nail salons, and in my case and many others, emergency surgeries.” -Paula Abdul

In a tribulation that lasted 13 months and was proven to have originated from dirty equipment at a manicure salon, Paula Abdul had to fight a flesh eating bacteria that developed into a full blown streptococcus infection.

"I'm no stranger to pain. My tolerance is this high…but this kind of pain was so excruciating, that even my hair touching my thumb and the bed sheet touching my thumb caused me to scream. If left untreated it could have lead to the loss of a limb or worse, death” -Paula Abdul

Since then Paula has successfully helped lobby for a tightening of regulation concerning health standards at all beauty salons and spa’s etc, but only in the State of California, USA. Not that she has been the first to experience health problems from going to a salon. In 2001 in Watsonville, California; 110 people broke out in boils and skin ulcers that were directly attributed to improper hygiene in the footbaths at a local manicure salon.

Brittany Welby along with some of the Watsonville 110 will have permanent reminders of the havoc unhygienic conditions can inflict. In her case it was a random visit to her local manicurist and two weeks later she went to the doctor with a spreading rash on her legs. Her doctor laid in a course of general antibiotics that proved to be wholly ineffective and the lesions continued spreading. Lucky for Brittany she spotted an article on the Watsonville 110 and it had pictures that, snap, matched her condition. Though she still has serious permanent scarring on her legs, she could have, if undiagnosed and untreated, lost her legs altogether.

“A random sample of 120 establishments; Technicians in 72 establishments were interviewed, representing a 60% response rate. Twenty-nine (40%) of these technicians indicated that they had been immunized against hepatitis B. Technicians re-used almost all instruments even if this was not the intent of the manufacturer. Isopropyl alcohol was the most commonly used disinfectant. Many technicians did not wear gloves while performing procedures. Most did not follow universal precautions when asked how they would react to incidental cuts on either the client or themselves.” -Ian Johnson Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto

When I presented these stats to a fellow writer and professional tattooist she was aghast at these statistics. As a tattooist she takes a great many precautions to ensure both her and her clients ongoing health. She reckoned either her or one of her clients would probably be dead by now if she practiced her tattoo trade (12 years) with such disregard for common sense heath protocol. Yet she too attends a manicurist nearly every month, and admits she has never asked health type questions of her manicurist, though she would do so now.

The veil has been lifted from manicure salons to reveal intoxicated workers continually exposed to a cocktail of industrial strength chemicals, and possibly lethal client infections from unclean re-used equipment ready to form the next pandemic. This is a health issue that needs immediate real change causing attention paid to it. At the very least it should have you asking a few more questions about your manicurist, questions that need to be asked and answered, before you dunk your fingers into that nice warm water.