Exposure to chemicals commonly found in nail polish and other manicure products can pose serious health risks to salon workers.
In the second part of a series on the profession’s risks, the New York Times says that workers frequently report health problems like persistent coughs, cancer, miscarriages and birth defects in their children. Several common chemicals pose an especially serious risk: formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyl phthalate, which is banned in the E.U. The cosmetics industry disputes the danger of these chemicals. Studies have found that sometimes even products that claim to be free of these ingredients contain them, based on random tests.
While the levels of exposure may well be safe for women who get a weekly manicure, the risk is much higher for the workers who are exposed to them day in and day out, the Times reports.
Read more at the New York Times.
- Essay: The Tyre Nichols Videos Demand Solemnity, Not Sensationalism
- For People With Disabilities, Losing Abortion Access Can Be a Matter of Life or Death
- Inside the Stealth Efforts to Smuggle Starlink Internet Into Iran
- Natasha Lyonne on Poker Face and Creating Characters Who Subvert Leading-Lady Tropes
- How to Help the Victims and Community After the Monterey Park Shooting
- Why Grocery Staples Are So Expensive Right Now
- Quantum Computers Could Solve Countless Problems—and Create a Lot of New Ones
- Where to Watch All of the 2023 Oscar Nominees
- How to Be Mindful if You Hate Meditating
