
That Instagram-ready manicure you just got isn't as cute as you think. Exposure to chemicals used in creating those pastel-cupcake fingertips can contribute to miscarriages, birth abnormalities, and even cancer.But it gets worse. You can barely walk a few blocks in Toronto without running into one of those nail salons with neon signs in the window, yet the city has largely ignored any potential regulation of the chemicals used behind those storefronts. They're a decade behind where California is in safeguarding this industry, a fact that was discussed at an event hosted in late April by the National Network on Environments and Women's Health (NNEWH) in Toronto. And as California has been a pioneer in the U.S. for regulating nail salon chemicals, NNEWH wants to make Toronto the Canadian equivalent.
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I went to several salons in downtown Toronto to see what their employees had to say about the conditions they work in. At each business, I was immediately greeted with warm welcomes, smiles and (of course) the pungent smell of polish, glue, and acetone. Then they figured out that I was there to ask questions. Being polite and taking alternative approaches had little effect—I got used to being stared at by entire salon staffs with looks of confusion and terror on their faces. One woman who greeted me and asked what services I would like flawlessly in English at Grace Nails on Carlton Street suddenly pretended she didn't understand what I was saying when I tried to set up an interview. "If it is questions you are asking, then I don't answer," she said as she returned to scrubbing a customer's foot for a pedicure.I guess you can't blame them—it is their livelihood after all. As Ford told me, salons are sometimes even like a second home to employees. After trying three places, I finally found one on Church Street that was (kind of) willing to talk to me. A worker at Tweetie Nails & Spa ran me through how acrylics are done and showed me some of the products they use for this type of manicure, including a tiny vial of KDS nail glue. I later looked up the safety sheet for this glue and found a formaldehyde-containing chemical compound on its ingredient list.
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Unfortunately, a big part of the equation of regulating nail salon chemicals has to do with cost. The toxic trio-containing products are cheap and many salons are budget-based.Elizabeth Glassen, a 22-year-old cosmetician, has been getting acrylics done every three weeks for the last two years. "If they change the way it is now, it's probably going to be more expensive," Glassen said. "I'm always going to get my nails done; I don't want it to break the bank." Glassen's viewpoint is a common one for customers of this industry. Some people just aren't willing (or can't afford to) pay more for a healthier alternative.It's not like those healthier options are readily available in Toronto anyway. Lush & Lavish in Little Portugal was the first natural-focused salon in the city when it opened in 2009. Linh Diep's business offers no shellac, acrylic or gel manicures, only regular ones using a line of three-free polishes from SpaRitual. In fact, even when new customers want to have old nail treatments such as acrylics taken off, Lush & Lavish refuses—the acetone content of the remover required for such is much too strong for them to allow in their salon. The remover they use for taking off regular polish has the lowest possible percentage of acetone and therefore requires more effort and time on behalf of the manicurist."It was very important for me to not expose my employees to chemicals like that," Diep said. She mentioned how sometimes customers don't like that the manicures take longer than at your everyday neon-sign nail salon, an average of 45 minutes compared to 30. The prices at Lush & Lavish for a regular manicure are also slightly higher than average at $30. The more natural alternatives don't come cheap, at least not right now. The only way price will drop is if the demand goes up, but customers will have to start asking more for three-free products before that can happen.But Ford warned that term organic "doesn't even apply to the nail salon industry." No matter what, there are going to be chemicals involved. The only part of this industry we can change is regulation around what chemicals can be used and the safety precautions workers must take when using them. Until Toronto steps up, workers and customers alike will continue to be left to fend for themselves in the chemical-cloud-filled rooms of salons across the city.@allison_elkin
