A lack of concern for the men and women in the nail industry.
Flimsy paper masks and loose latex gloves provide little protection.
Photo credit: Robert Gumpert for the Asian Law Caucus
When your mom has been a nail technician for more than twenty years, you cannot help but wonder, “How safe could it possibly be to come in contact with such toxicity day in and day out?” Yet according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the health of the 350,000 and counting men and women working in nail salons are largely ignored by the safety watchdogs in the beauty community.
Used by the gallons, nail polish remover is just the tip of the toxic iceberg that nail techs are exposed to.
Photo credit: Elizabeth Kim
Nail techs face all sorts of dangers: chemical from poor ventilation, biological from transmission of germs and pathogens and even physical from the hours of sitting hunched over a desk. Over the past few years, my mother has periodically started developing angry rashes across her wrists right where a standard set of latex gloves stop. This has been the least of her worries that includes a brief breast cancer scare, the beginning stages of arthritis and debilitating migraines.
Sadly, of the hundreds of thousands of licensed nail technicians in the United States, more than 68% are minority workers with little to no English skills (CDC). Obtaining a license requires a short training period and the abundance of salons provides jobs for immigrants who need a job immediately. More often than not these workers are suspicious of outside agencies that would take away their livelihood by shutting down a salon. Ultimately the attention needs to shift more toward giving a voice to the nail technicians whose job it is to produce beauty under such ugly conditions.
It’s time for the caps to come off for the hundreds of thousands of nail technicians who don’t have a voice.
Photo credit: Elizabeth Kim
Next time you walk in for your weekly manicure/pedicure, think twice and show some compassion to the person who faces consequences far more dire than chipped polish.
-Elizabeth Kim-
