Salon used banned chemical on nails

An Auckland beauty salon that used a banned, high-risk chemical on clients’ nails has been fined $13,500.

Kiwi Nails & Spa sole director Quoc Duy Phan appeared on behalf of the company in the Auckland District Court for sentencing on Monday, after pleading guilty to a charge laid by WorkSafe under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act.

Health inspectors noticed a solvent-like smell when they visited the company’s salon in Silverdale, north Auckland, in 2016.

A subsequent visit revealed the product the salon was using to apply acrylic nails contained a substance called methyl methacrylate (MMA).

The chemical is typically used in the manufacture of plastics because it is quick to set, cheap, and has strong bondage.

However it is banned from use in beauty products because of its ‘‘high likelihood’’ of harm if people were exposed to its fumes, Judge Russell Collins said on Monday.

Side-effects from exposure include irritation to the skin and eyes, drowsiness, dizziness, nail damage and deformed growth of the nail, he said.

The chemical was ‘‘wellknown’’ to be banned, Judge Collins said.

However, testing by health inspectors revealed the salon was using a product that contained 90 per cent MMA.

The company was cautioned and subsequent testing of its products showed its percentage of MMA had dipped to less than 2 per cent.

It was also warned for storing flammable substances in the shop, which it later removed.

WorkSafe prosecutor Celene O’Brien said both employees and customers were at risk from exposure to the chemical and the danger was heightened by the salon’s lack of extraction fan or vent.

Judge Collins said there were ‘‘ample’’ other products that did the same job safely. - Fairfax NZ