If you work in a nail salon and you’ve ever looked at the surfaces before wiping them down, you’ll have seen an example of the kinds of dust particles that salons produce from both hand and e-filing.
Now, imagine those dust particulates building up in your lungs over eight hours a day, five or six days a week.
It’s not a pretty picture, but that’s precisely what could be happening when you work in or go to a salon that’s not protected by an effective nail dust and fume extractor.
In this post, we’ll look at the dangers of dusts AND harmful vapours given off by beauty treatments and how you can help to create better air quality, bringing you closer to a toxic-free nail salon experience.
Are nail salon fumes harmful?
It’s worth pointing out here that while people may use the term ‘fumes’ as a catch-all, the term fumes really only relates to the invisible vapours and smells. However potential hazards in salons come in two forms:
- Airborne dusts that can enter the lungs through your breathing zone
- And airborne vapours that contain chemicals that can be harmful when inhaled.
Typical hazardous chemicals used in salons, and their potential health risks include:
- Acetone (nail polish remover): Headaches, dizziness, and irritated eyes, skin, and throat
- Acetonitrile (fingernail glue remover): Irritated nose and throat, breathing problems, nausea, vomiting, weakness and exhaustion
- Butyl Acetate (nail polish, nail polish remover): Headaches and irritated eyes, skin, nose, mouth, and throat
- Cyanoacrylate (nail glue and eyelash adhesion): Irritated eyes, skin and throat. Difficulty breathing including coughing, asthma attacks and wheezing as well as allergic reactions
- Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) (nail polish): Nausea and irritated eyes, skin, nose, mouth and throat. Long-term exposures to high concentrations may cause other serious effects
- Ethyl Acetate (nail polish, nail polish remover, fingernail glue): Irritated eyes, stomach, skin, nose, mouth and throat. High levels can cause fainting
- Ethyl Methacrylate (EMA) (artificial nail liquid): Asthma, irritated eyes, skin, nose and mouth. Difficulty concentrating. Exposures while pregnant may affect your unborn child
- Formaldehyde can cause cancer
- Isopropyl Acetate (nail polish, nail polish remover): Sleepiness and irritated eyes, nose and throat
- Methacrylic acid (nail primer): Skin burns, irritated eyes, skin, nose, mouth and throat. At higher concentrations this chemical can cause difficulty breathing
- Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) (artificial nail products): Asthma, irritated eyes, skin, nose and mouth. Difficulty concentrating, loss of smell
- Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (disinfectants): Irritated skin and nose and may cause asthma
- Toluene (nail polish, fingernail glue): Headaches, dizziness and numbness. Irritated eyes, nose, throat and lungs. Damage to liver and kidneys and harm to unborn children during pregnancy.
Toluene, Formaldehyde and Dibutyl Phthalate are sometimes referred to in the industry as the “toxic trio.” Formaldehyde found in nail polish and nail hardener can cause difficulty breathing, including coughing, asthma-like attacks and wheezing. As well as allergic reactions, irritated eyes, skin and throat.
To answer the question ‘Are nail salon fumes harmful?’ then; absolutely! Nail salon fumes and dusts can be extremely harmful. VODEX was founded after our co-founder Poala visited a nail salon and left feeling nauseous with a terrible headache, and those are the very least of the problems nail technicians can face if they work day-in-day-out, with no nail salon fume extractor protecting them.
Over time, salon vapours and dusts can help contribute to:
- Dust hypersensitivity and difficulty breathing because of it
- Occupational asthma
- And Chronic Obstruction Pulmonary Disorder – commonly referred to as COPD.
That brings us to one of the most common questions we get asked when talking to salon owners – particularly ones who are just setting up a salon…
Do you need a nail dust collection for nails?
‘Dust collection’ is another phrase that’s often used as a catch-all in layman’s terms. At VODEX, we believe that complete ‘at-source’ extraction offers a safer alternative to more simple nail dust collectors.
Focusing purely on dusts, our solutions go beyond low cost professional nail dust collectors by offering comprehensive extraction of three different kinds of problems:
- Inhalable dusts: These are larger particles often sized between 1 and 100 microns. (For context, a human hair measures between 80-100 microns)
- Respirable dusts: These measure below 10 microns and can get inhaled deep into the lung tissues.
- Fumes and vapoursfrom chemicals such as IPA and Acetone (and many more)
While a simple nail salon dust extractor will collect some dusts, most do not filter low enough to stop respirable dusts from entering the breathing zone of salon staff and customers. Likewise, it won’t absorb any of the potentially damaging airborne chemical vapours because these do not have any carbon filters fitted. Carbon is an odour suppressant, but it also has to be the right type of carbon, as not all are treated equal. Vapours and smells will pass right through a dust collector, exposing clients and technicians to the dangers from chemical vapours.
The importance of a TOTAL at-source nail fume extractor system
BOTH dust and vapours given off by beauty salon procedures can be toxic.
Unlike dusts, vapours are entirely invisible. It’s basically impossible to tell how much of them are in the air until your clients and staff start falling ill.
Over time, problems caused by nail dusts and chemical vapours can be incredibly serious, including:
- Links to Miscarriages
- Problems with internal organs or the nervous system
- Birth defects in the children of pregnant women
- And there’s even the possibility they might cause occupational cancer.
A proper extraction/filtration system for nail salons should capture vapours and dusts at the source of the problem – right next to the procedure where the fumes are created.
This is known as Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV). Here at VODEX, it’s at the very heart of our business, and a central component of making sure your nail salon complies with the law that controls safety near dangerous substances, Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (commonly abbreviated to COSHH), along with SR13 HSE Guidelines.
Two problems, one solution
Inspired by the problems she faced in finding a nail salon where she could enjoy clean air free from harmful dusts and vapours, our co-founder Poala teamed up with her partner Paul to build VODEX some 11 years ago. It was a process that resulted in the launch of one of our most popular products – the VODEX SalonAIR® range.
Designed to remove potentially harmful fumes and both kinds of airborne dusts from the breathing zones of your nail techs and clients, the SalonAIR® also comes with an adjustable arm that your techs can position unobtrusively near the customer’s nails, OR optional FileOWAY® or FileOTRAY® downdraft capture accessories,
Fitted with M5 and H13 HEPA particle filters and specially blended DeepBed carbon filters that together filter out harmful particulates from dusts and vapours alike, the VODEX SalonAIR® has been specifically designed to bring you closer than ever to a toxic-free nail salon – by people who understand first-hand the need for clean air in your workspace, and the importance of extraction systems in salons.
Need at-source extraction for your nail salon?
Find out more about the SalonAIR® nail dust and fume extractor here, or get in touch with us to discuss the options, filters and capture accessories you might need for your nail salon.
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