A proposed federal law on hazardous chemicals could give some protection to workers in nail salons
After working for years in a nail salon, Lan Anh Truong started having strange symptoms: frequent headaches, coughing, and red, irritated eyes. One day, more than a decade ago, she even fainted at her Alameda, Calif., salon.
It never occurred to Truong that frequent exposure to chemicals used in nail polish and removers — first as a technician and then as a salon owner — could be causing her health problems until she made contact with Oakland-based Asian Health Services, whose staff formed the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative after noticing a pattern in the symptoms of salon workers.
After learning that her own symptoms and the health issues of other salon workers could be connected to the products she was using every day with clients, Truong became one of the first to join a growing movement to reduce exposure to hazardous chemicals in salons.
“You have to be aware,” she said of the health issues faced by salon workers. “You have to care.”
Now, the movement to make salons safer for the mostly young immigrant women who work in them may be getting a boost at the federal level. Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., recently introduced the Environmental Justice Right to Know Act.
If passed, their bill would direct the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to research ventilation in beauty salons and determine a healthy level of ventilation for workers. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences would be required to report to Congress on the longterm negative health effects of chemicals in beauty products. And the bill would require product manufacturers to provide safety information in multiple languages on their websites. Also agriculture
The proposed law is not just about nail salon workers. It would also require Spanish translations of safety and environmental information on pesticides used in agriculture. But the proposal would be a big boost to a years-long effort to make salons healthier workplaces.
“The ultimate solution is that manufacturers need to have healthy products,” said Julia Liou, chief deputy of administration for Asian Health Services and director of the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative.
California and Bay Area counties have already taken action. Last month, the state released guidelines for cities and counties to voluntarily implement programs to certify “healthy” nail salons that use safer products and properly ventilate their spaces, following the lead of Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
Liou is encouraged by the new legislative support for the cause, but notes that until recently, there has been little government regulation to protect salon workers.
When Liou helped push for a bill in 2005 to regulate dibutyl pthalate, which is used in nail products and considered toxic by health experts, she said she watched at the state Capitol as beauty industry lobbyists battling the measure handed out goodybags of cosmetics to legislative staffers. The bill was defeated.
“That was so eye-opening for me,” Liou said. She realized she needed to start at the local level. So she helped found the salon collaborative, which created the first guidelines for businesses interested in getting recognized as healthy salons, and worked with Bay Area counties and the city of Santa Monica.
Truong’s salon, Leann’s Nails in Alameda, was among the first in the East Bay to be recognized. She got rid of polish removers that use ethyl and butyl acetate, bought a ventilation unit and began leaving the salon door open during nail services.
Truong said she noticed her own symptoms disappear after she made those changes around 2008. She said she wished she had known earlier that chemicals in nail products could have negative effects, but that’s why the program — and more regulation — is so important.
“It’s not because I didn’t care,” Truong said. “I didn’t know what ‘healthy’ is.”
About 200 salons are currently recognized as “healthy” but with close to 8,000 nail salons across the state, according to Nails Magazine, advocates say there is a long way to go. Liou and her team hope the new state guidelines will help. ‘Healthy’ products
Still, it’s a voluntary program and some owners remain hesitant about making changes. “Healthy” nail products without what health experts call “the toxic trio” of dibutyl phthalate, toluene and formaldehyde can be more expensive. Ventilation machines can cost as much as $1,000. And training in new practices takes time and resources.
Education can help, said Rochelle Gaddi, director of Santa Clara County’s Consumer Protection Division, which adopted a healthy nail program in 2015 and hired an outreach specialist to educate salon workers, owners and consumers about health issues.
Linda Do, whose Blossom Nail Spa has locations in San Jose and Campbell, said she opted to make her salons “healthy” when she opened seven years ago.
“We take a lot of pride in it,” said Do, who added that natural products and good ventilation are a marketing advantage.
Customers elsewhere agree. Emily Gupta, who was getting a pedicure recently at Leann’s in Alameda, said convenience and cleanliness are among the qualities she seeks in a salon, but it’s a definite plus if the salon is recognized as “healthy.”
Truong said she hopes the new bill helps other salon owners see the value in protecting the health of nail workers.
“I hope they do care,” she said. “We need to talk about it.”