California Finding Many Nail Products Claiming Toxin-Free, But Lab Tests Showing Otherwise

There has been a lot of attention given lately about toxic chemicals in nail polishes, especially those known the toxic trio – toluene, formaldehyde, and dibutyl phthalate (DBP). Many nail product manufacturers have either reformulated their products to remove these chemicals or just stopped making them altogether.

Image by Christy Thompson at Shutterstock.com.

Other manufacturers have only claimed to reformulate their products, but an investigative report done by the California Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC) found that, “Some of the toxic-free products actually contained higher levels of DBP or toluene than products which made no toxic-free claims.”

Deborah Raphael, director of the DTSC, said in a letter that the tests revealed that “most of the surveyed products were not free – as claimed – of toluene, which is restricted in cosmetics sold in the European Union. Most of the tests on the products that made the claims (of being toxic-free), in fact, revealed high concentrations of toluene, which may be harmful to women of child-bearing age.”

“DBP, which is banned from cosmetics in the EU, was also present in some products, one of which claimed to be DBP-free. Both toluene and DBP are listed as known to the State of California to cause reproductive toxicity,” added Raphael.

Regarding the toxic-trio, the report said that, “California has recognized that exposure to these chemicals is associated with cancer, birth defects, asthma, and other chronic health conditions.”

To obtain the data, the DTSC randomly sampled 25 nail care products from six different San Francisco Bay Area locations.

Twelve of the sampled products claimed to be free of at least one of the toxic-trio chemicals. However, the report found that 10 of these 12 products did contain toluene, and four of the 12 contained DBP.

“Toluene was found more frequently, and in higher concentrations in products with toxic-trio related claims than in traditional products,” said the report.

Among the products claiming to be “three-free,” only two samples – CM (Color Madnic) Luscious nail lacquer and Zoya professional nail lacquer – actually tested free of the three chemicals.

The overall findings of the investigation though were “disappointing,” said Raphael, adding that, “The failure of some manufacturers to know what is in their products, or to accurately state what is actually there, is a distressing pattern that we wish to highlight, and then work to address.”

Raphael also says that there needs to be a “wakeup call for greater transparency about chemicals used by an industry with approximately $6 billion in annual U.S. sales.”

The potential health hazards are for both the consumers and the nail technicians that work with the products all day, every day. This is a “health and safety concern for about 121,000 nail salon workers in California. Most are young Asian-American women, exposed daily in poorly ventilated salons to a variety of chemicals,” says the DTSC.

The DTSC report cited a prior California study involving 201 workers in Alameda County, which found that:

• 62 percent of workers surveyed complained about work-related health problems.
• 47 percent specifically reported acute symptoms such as skin irritation, breathing difficulty, numbness, as eye and throat irritation.
• 42 percent reported chronic pain.

The report recommended adopting measures for removing solvent vapors from the air, using equipment such as commercially available down-draft tables, ventilation hoods, and similar suction devices that aren’t currently present in most salons.

Another recommendation was that manufacturers and regulatory agencies work together to development better testing protocols to handle the presence of chemicals in consumer products.

Improving education, information, and training was also suggested by the report to “promote the greening of nail products and salon practices.”

The DTSC has also just opened a public comment period for the proposed Safer Consumer Products Regulation. Among the purposes of the regulation is to evaluate the health risks of chemicals in consumer products; develop a criteria for determining which are dangerous to human health and the environment; and to determine what comparable alternatives are available.

The DTSC will hold a public hearing on the proposed regulation on Sept. 10, 2012 in the Byron Sher Room in the Cal/EPA Building on the second floor. The address is 1001 “I” Street, Sacramento, Calif.

The public hearing will convene at 10:00 a.m., and will remain open as long as attendees are presenting testimony. The DTSC is requesting that anyone who wants to speak at the hearing needs to register beforehand.

Inquiries regarding technical aspects of the proposed regulation or California Environmental Policy Council documents can contact at the DTSC, either Corey Yep at 916-445-3601 or Odette Madriago at 916-323-4927.

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