California finds mislabeled nail polishes at salons pose health hazards

Nail products in the California salons, which claim to be free of ‘toxic trio’ chemicals, actually pose health hazards to consumers as they are linked to birth defects and fertility problems, according to a report.

The nail products report, which has been put together by California Environmental Protection Agency’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), in partnership with the San Francisco Department of the Environment, the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics investigated a sample of 25 nail polishes offered at nail salons.

The agency observed that the mislabelled nail products could harm workers in about 48,000 salons in the region and their customers.

It was found that some products labelled as free of toluene, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and formaldehyde, often known as ‘toxic trio,’ had more amounts of these hazardous substances.

Ten of the 12 products that claimed to be free of toluene actually contained it, with four featuring dangerously high levels; and five of the seven products, which claimed to be ‘free of the toxic three,’ comprised one or more agents in significant levels, the report stated.

Formaldehyde, used as preservative in nail polish, is known to cause cancer, asthma and skin problems; while toluene, offering smooth look with clear colours, can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea, short-term memory loss and also could harm foetuses leading to miscarriages.

DBP, which offers the polishes a hard but flexible finish, is associated with reproductive problems and birth defects even in very low doses, the agency added saying enough data was not available to estimate the people at risk due to these chemicals in the products.

According to the agency officials, the usage of these chemicals in nail products is legal if labelled properly, but the false claims violate state law that requires disclosure of harmful chemicals in consumer products.