I. Intro
Nail salons in the U.S. are primarily owned by immigrants and refugees who are usually willing to work despite low pay and poor conditions. For many people, walking into a nail salon that smells like chemicals can be an unpleasant experience, but for manicurists, spending all day in these salons can lead to serious health problems. Salon workers are exposed to both cleaning and cosmetic chemicals daily which causes both short term and long term effects. Salon worker Kiet Le from Pure Organic Nail Salon reports constantly being sick with a cold and states: “I am usually sick and try to wear a mask because I don’t want to let the customers know that I have a cold. We work so close together.” Kiet is just one of many manicurists who face poor health as a result of the toxic chemicals in nail salons.
What are the leading factors that drive poor health conditions in nail salons, and why aren’t these factors changing?
What are the leading factors that drive poor health conditions in nail salons, and why aren’t these factors changing?
II. Causes
According to the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Department (OSHA), the following chemicals are used or found in nail salons:
Are just a few of the many chemicals that cause:
Salon workers also experience pain due to improper and harmful postures. These ergonomic body pains cause:
Due to lack of resources and finances, some salons don’t provide workers with proper protective equipment such as gloves and masks. Masks that we usually see salon workers wearing, such as the one pictured in Figure A, don’t provide the protection they need from inhaling toxic chemicals. The proper masks that workers should wear are pictured in Figure B. |
III. Factors
- Lack of equality and power in the nail salon prevent manicurists from demanding owners to provide safer conditions.
- According to the UCLA Labor Center, fear of employer retaliation can also prevent workers from reporting hazards (2018). There were several moments of employee retaliation within the Pure Organic Nail Salon, and health was not the priority when reporting to the owner. In one instance, a manicurist forgot to lock the doors and turn off the lights during closing. The next morning the owner was not there to see that the shop hadn't been closed, and everything was left untouched. One manicurist still told the owner because she did not like the manicurist who had accidentally forgotten to close down. Meanwhile, there were several issues regarding health and involving both clients and manicurists that went unreported to the manager.
- Poor health conditions within nail salons also go unnoticed because most employees are uninformed. However, with a wave for new concern for the safety of nail salon workers, Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor has a guide for nail salon workers online. Such guides are accessible for non-native speakers, in pdfs translated in Vietnamese, Korean, Spanish, Thai, Nepalese, and Simplified Chinese.