By ANGELA WOODALL — The Oakland Tribune
Posted: 4:00am on Apr 10, 2012; Modified: 7:52pm on Apr 10, 2012
2012-04-10T23:52:34Z
By ANGELA WOODALL
OAKLAND, Calif. - It didn't take long after Hue Nguyen was diagnosed with breast cancer to wonder if her job in a San Leandro nail salon could have put her at risk for the disease.
Now Nguyen is sure that the chemicals in the nail polish removers, fake nails and lacquers that she inhaled while working at the salon contributed to the cancer.
She can't prove it. But salon owners know the risk and so do the workers, she said through an interpreter, Phuong An Doan-Billings. "They know their life is on the line."
That awareness of the toxicity of cosmetics has given rise to support for alternatives, such as "green" nail salons in Oakland, San Francisco and other cities.
But avoiding risky chemicals can be nearly impossible, according to a new California Department of Substances Control study, which revealed nail lacquers, topcoats and other products on the market still contained high levels of the "toxic trio" - toluene, formaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate - despite claims that they were free of the substances. Chronic exposure to those three chemicals has been associated with birth defects, asthma and other chronic health conditions.
"No salon worker should have to put their livelihood over their health," said Julia Liou, a member of the Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative and Asian Health Services.
Her organization is trying to improve conditions for nail salon workers in the Bay Area, many of whom are of childbearing age and do not speak English. She estimated there are about 100 salons in Oakland, with 400 to 600 workers in total. There are at least 121,000 nail salon workers in California.
This is a major public health issue for workers and customers, Liou said Tuesday at the Laney College cosmetology school where the Substances Control department chose to release the study's findings publicly.
Some of the products tested in the study labeled "toxic free" contained higher levels of the toxic trio chemicals than the ones that made no health claims, according to the report.
"I cannot trust them," said Loann Tran, a former nail salon worker who now owns the Happy Nails shop in Salinas, Calif.
The report comes on the heels of a series of scandals involving the cosmetics industry. GIB LLC, maker of the Brazilian Blowout hair straightener, has received warnings by the Food and Drug Administration to remove the carcinogen formaldehyde from its ingredients.
Mercury was found in skin lightening creams and Johnson & Johnson recently promised to remove cancer-causing chemicals from its baby shampoo and soaps.
Manufacturers should have to prove their products are safe instead of making the government responsible for proving harm, said Michael Dibartolomeis of the California Public Health Department's Safe Cosmetics Program. The agency wrote California's 2005 Safe Cosmetics Act.
Federal laws, in contrast, date back to 1938.
But enforcement at the state and federal level is a challenge, said Lisa Archer, director of Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.
A 10-person Federal Drug Administration team is responsible for regulating a $60 billion industry, whose members spend millions of dollars lobbying Congress, she said.
"We can't shop our way out of this," Archer said.
As she spoke, Laney cosmetology students in the room silently dabbed at each others' nails with nail polish remover. The bottles may say they are toxic free, Brittany Belt, of Alameda, said. "But you still don't know."
And the customers don't always pay attention, she added.
"They just pick the color that they like."
Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2012/04/10/1985544/the-ugly-side-of-the-beauty-industry.html#storylink=cpy
Health care conglomerate Danaher
No comments:
Post a Comment