Even now, after 10 years, Moran is frequently reminded of how those products affected her health. What Moran didn't know, and what a substantial number of California's 76,000 manicurists still don't know, is that the substances they're working with contain chemicals known to cause eye, skin and lung irritation, miscarriages and even cancer. The acetone in nail polish remover can cause central nervous system depression. The superglue that binds acrylic nails to the nail bed contains a substance known to cause asthma. Nail hardeners use formaldehyde, a carcinogen.
Nail polish contains toluene, a neurotoxicant that can harm fetuses.
The list goes on. She got worried about nail products when her sister became a manicurist several years ago. Le conducted an informal survey of several hundred manicurists in Delaware and found that within seven years most of them had suffered from respiratory tract infections. They have mood swings. In contrast, Doug Schoon, research director for Southern California-based Creative Nail Design and a member of the Safety and Standards Committee of the Nail Manufacturers Council, says the whole subject is a tempest in a teapot.