There are lots of conflicting views on this subject, including articles in the national press, comments from nail product manufacturers and adverts from companies like ours which manufacture fume extraction systems.
So, how does the salon owner decide if they should be worried about dust and fume? Read on…
Many nail techs work for themselves or work for small salons who do not have a dedicated health and safety person. In most cases it is down to the salon owner to be responsible for this with most if not all doing an admirable job.
The point is that the salon owner or nail tech needs to make their own decision about their health and safety based on the information available. We (Purex) have found it difficult to get definitive health and safety advice from a single authority and the information we have received is sometimes conflicting.
However, the following are comments that prove to us that there is a cause for concern:
“Inhaling the fumes from nail products can make you sick.” - US Food and Drug Administration
“Solvent vapour can cause headaches, dizziness and nausea” - UK Health & Safety Executive
“Dust and vapour from artificial nails can cause eye, nose and throat irritation” - UK Health & Safety Executive
“Consult an occupational health professional if workers report sore eyes, runny nose, coughing, wheezing or breathing difficulties.” - UK COSHH Essentials
After exhibiting at a few exhibitions and talking to nail techs we also got the following comments...
- Their rooms smelled badly of chemical fumes.
- Their work surfaces and clothes were covered in nail dust.
- Their nail techs were complaining of sore throats, headaches etc.
- Pregnant nail techs were concerned for their babies.
- Customers complained about the smell and the dust.
- Neighbouring business had called the council to complain about the smell coming from the salon.
- Nail techs were fed up with wearing face masks.
- Customers were asking why they didn’t have a mask!
- And so on, and so on.
Most of the people who approached us knew that there was a problem. Most of them had also bought budget extractors that simply didn’t work. It was a common story.
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Have all this and your nail techs and customers are protected.
So, what do you do next?
Do a bit more research.
- Ask the HSE (www.hse.gov.uk)
- Doug Schoon of Creative covers filtration in his book ‘Nail Structure and Product Chemistry’
- Salons, academies etc must all comply with the UK COSHH regulations which you can find at www.hse.gov.uk/coshh
- Ask your techs, do they have any breathing difficulties, headaches etc.
- Ask your customers. Would they like your salon to smell better to not get covered in nail dust?
We (Purex) would of course love to sell a Purex Nail Station to every salon and training academy in the land, but of course the decision to buy or not is up to you. All we can say is that a great number of people over the last year have told us there is a problem so we have provided the solution.
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