Identifying and Understanding the Role of Key Stakeholders in Promoting Worker Health and Safety in Nail Salons

Quach, Thu; Tsoh, Janice Y.; Le, Gem M.; Le, Minhthu; Pham, Alene; Fu, Lisa; Luu, Vinh; Ngo, Kim; Reynolds, Peggy

doi:10.1353/hpu.2015.0060

Cited by 13 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…While the use of PPE is important to reduce chemical exposures in nail salon workers, suitable chemical exposure standards for nail salon products are needed in order to reduce chemical exposures and adverse health risks. A potential strategy to develop such standards is to advocate for policy makers to fill gaps in current regulation by requiring manufacturers to conduct premarket testing and to provide full disclosure of product ingredients, especially ingredients that are potentially hazardous [31, 32].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing Occupational Health Risks and Chemical Exposures Among Asian Nail Salon Workers on the East Coast of the United States

Wei

Husni

et al. 2019

J Community Health

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The products used in nail care services contain toxic chemicals. This study aimed to characterize occupational health risk factors and chemical exposures among Asian nail salon workers on the East Coast of the U.S. for informing the development of more effective, culturally appropriate interventions. We conducted a community-based participatory research (CBPR) study to characterize occupational health risks. A face-to-face, self-reported survey was performed, and personal exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was evaluated. Three VOCs, acetone, methyl methacrylate (MMA), and toluene, were measured using 3M 3500 organic vapor monitors. We collected data on 112 workers with 100 personal chemical exposure measurements from 25 nail salons. Self-reported health problems that emerged or worsened after participants started working in the nail salon industry included headaches (8%); lightheadedness (9.8%); and irritation to the nose, eyes, throat, and skin (21.2%). Approximately 70% of participants reported that they had been pregnant, 11.7% of whom had at least one miscarriage. The mean concentrations of acetone, MMA, and toluene were 18.51 parts per million (ppm), 39.45 ppm, and 0.09 ppm, respectively. Mean concentrations of acetone and MMA measured from salons in New York City were significantly lower than those measured in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey. CBPR proved to be as an efficient approach for recruiting hard-to-reach Asian immigrant nail salon workers. Adverse health symptoms and problems associated with providing nail salon services were identified in these workers. Further studies are needed to better understand the long-term health effects of chronic chemical exposures in nail salon environments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing Occupational Health Risks and Chemical Exposures Among Asian Nail Salon Workers on the East Coast of the United States

Wei

Husni

et al. 2019

J Community Health

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“…17–20 Workers in the beauty industry, who are predominantly women of color and immigrant women, can also face occupational health hazards from chemicals in professional cosmetic products and ad-hoc workplace safety standards. 21–23 Cumulative assessments of environmental risk factors among socially marginalized groups have historically prioritized place-based pollution sources, such as polluting industries or high traffic density, 24, 25 however, beauty product exposures may be elevated in some of the same communities that encounter disproportionate exposures to place-based pollution. 26, 27 …”

Section: Pre-existing Vulnerabilities and Cumulative Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The environmental injustice of beauty: framing chemical exposures from beauty products as a health disparities concern

Zota

Shamasunder

2017

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology

179

162

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The ObGyn community has issued a call to action to prevent toxic environmental chemical exposures and their threats to healthy human reproduction. Recent committee opinions recognize that vulnerable and underserved women may be disproportionately impacted by environmental chemical exposures and recommend that reproductive health professionals champion policies that secure environmental justice. Beauty product use is an understudied source of environmental chemical exposures. Beauty products can include reproductive and developmental toxicants such as phthalates and heavy metals; however, disclosure requirements are limited and inconsistent. Compared to White women, women of color have higher levels of beauty product-related environmental chemicals in their bodies, independent of socioeconomic status. Even small exposures to toxic chemicals during critical periods of development, such as pregnancy, can trigger adverse health consequences such as impacts on fertility and pregnancy, neurodevelopment, and cancer. In this commentary, we seek to highlight the connections between environmental justice and beauty product-related chemical exposures. We describe racial/ethnic differences in beauty product use such as skin lighteners, hair straighteners, and feminine hygiene products as well as the potential chemical exposures and health risks associated with these products. We also discuss how targeted advertising can take advantage of mainstream beauty norms to influence use of these products. Reproductive health professionals can use this information to advance environmental justice by being prepared to counsel patients who have questions about toxic environmental exposures from beauty care products and other sources. Researchers and health care providers can also promote health-protective policies such as improved ingredient testing and disclosure for the beauty product industry. Future clinical and public health research should consider beauty product use as a factor that may shape health inequities in women’s reproductive health across the life course.

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“…Since many nail salon workers are low income women of color with limited English proficiency and access to chemical health and safety information, the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative and National Healthy Nail Salon Alliance formed in recent years to safeguard occupational health while maintaining economic integrity among this workforce [10][11][12][13]. Diverse coalition members include workers, owners, researchers, advocates, and government agency officials who contribute to local and national initiatives on chemical exposure research, worker health and safety trainings, green salon certification programs, and efforts to increase cosmetic product labeling requirements [13,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Pilot Biomonitoring Study of Cumulative Phthalates Exposure among Vietnamese American Nail Salon Workers

Varshavsky

Morello‐Frosch

Harwani

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Many California nail salon workers are low-income Vietnamese women of reproductive age who use nail products daily that contain androgen-disrupting phthalates, which may increase risk of male reproductive tract abnormalities during pregnancy. Yet, few studies have characterized phthalate exposures among this workforce. To characterize individual metabolites and cumulative phthalates exposure among a potentially vulnerable occupational group of nail salon workers, we collected 17 post-shift urine samples from Vietnamese workers at six San Francisco Bay Area nail salons in 2011, which were analyzed for four primary phthalate metabolites: mono-n-butyl-, mono-isobutyl-, mono(2-Ethylhexyl)-, and monoethyl phthalates (MnBP, MiBP, MEHP, and MEP, respectively; μg/L). Phthalate metabolite concentrations and a potency-weighted sum of parent compound daily intake (Σandrogen-disruptor, μg/kg/day) were compared to 203 Asian Americans from the 2011–2012 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) using Student’s t-test and Wilcoxin signed rank test. Creatinine-corrected MnBP, MiBP, MEHP (μg/g), and cumulative phthalates exposure (Σandrogen-disruptor, μg/kg/day) levels were 2.9 (p < 0.0001), 1.6 (p = 0.015), 2.6 (p < 0.0001), and 2.0 (p < 0.0001) times higher, respectively, in our nail salon worker population compared to NHANES Asian Americans. Levels exceeded the NHANES 95th or 75th percentiles among some workers. This pilot study suggests that nail salon workers are disproportionately exposed to multiple phthalates, a finding that warrants further investigation to assess their potential health significance.

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Identifying and Understanding the Role of Key Stakeholders in Promoting Worker Health and Safety in Nail Salons

Cited by 13 publications

References 15 publications

Characterizing Occupational Health Risks and Chemical Exposures Among Asian Nail Salon Workers on the East Coast of the United States

Characterizing Occupational Health Risks and Chemical Exposures Among Asian Nail Salon Workers on the East Coast of the United States

The environmental injustice of beauty: framing chemical exposures from beauty products as a health disparities concern

A Pilot Biomonitoring Study of Cumulative Phthalates Exposure among Vietnamese American Nail Salon Workers

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