What Is Wrong With Manicures And Pedicures?

While manicures and pedicures have their own price, those who provide the services are forced to work for long hours, without being paid adequately, according to jhealthnutnews.

It is amazingly strange that these services increase health risks for those providing them. A report in the New York Times explains the suffering of the manicurists and pedicurists, who suffer a number of health ailments, right from "respiratory and skin conditions to miscarriages, birth defects, low-birth weight infants, Hodgkin's disease, leukemia, and a form of cancer called multiple myeloma."

Anne Rochon Ford, co-director of National Network on Environment and Women's Health, commented in ctvnews that "The degree of the problem, as far as we know, is comparable here. We can't say for sure how bad the situation is."

The main reason for the lack of safety is because the guidelines are not required to be revealed to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As the FDA puts it: "Cosmetic products and ingredients do not need FDA premarket approval with the exception of color additives," and "the law also does not require cosmetic companies to share their safety information with the FDA."

The cosmetic industry has a stranglehold on the market, and if any questions are raised, it immediately steps in to stop the efforts.

The manicurists are mostly women from Vietnam, the Philippines, Asia, and South and Central America, and "face high levels of chemical fumes and solvents even as they paint, polish, and file nails of clients" day after day. They are beset by breathing problems, continuous bleeding of the nose, painful throats, skin disorders, fungal infections, warts, and persistent coughs. There are even miscarriages or children born with developmental problems.

The International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health reported that due to chemical exposure, the women are likely to be smaller than others, suffer from gestational diabetes and placentia previa.

A list of 20 common nail product ingredients could lead to health problems. Among these, 17 might lead to respiratory problems, such as asthma. In a study of nearly 1,900 manicurists, cosmeticians, cosmetologists, and barbers in Colorado, scientists saw that artificial nails (as well as hairstyling and shaving) led to a threefold increased risk of developing asthma.

Other problems include breathing problems, throat congestion, coughing, headache, eye and skin irritation, dizziness, and exposure to carcinogens. Three of these toxins are dangerous to nail salon workers.