By Josie Huang, KPCC
Bianca Alatorre is not a fan of the overpowering smell of chemicals in nail salons. “Just being in there for me is really hard,” she said.
Chau Nguyen, co-owner of Nancy’s Nails in Santa Monica, paints a customer’s nails on Wednesday morning, March 5. Nancy’s Nails is one of four nail salons in Santa Monica participating in the Healthy Nail Salon Recognition Program. Maya Sugarman/KPCC
But as Alatorre sat for a manicure at Nancy’s Nails on Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica, she noticed something different.
She sniffed the air — and…. “Nothing.”
To improve air quality, the salon owners had opened the front and rear doors, letting fumes from glue and nail polish out, as the sounds of traffic and sidewalk chatter rolled in.
It’s one of the steps that Nancy’s Nails has taken as the California Healthy Nail Salons Collaborative. The nonprofit program works to improve health conditions at manicure shops, the vast majority of which are run by Vietnamese immigrants.
“In California, 60 to 80 percent of the 97,000 nail salon workers are of Vietnamese descent,” said Duyen Tran, a Vietnamese-speaking educator with the collaborative.
Santa Monica, home to about 30 nail salons, is the first city in Southern California to partner with the collaborative.
Participants agree to do things like improving ventilation, use more protective nitrile gloves and switch out nail polishes containing known carcinogens for safer products.
“Before we buy $1 a bottle but right now we pay $5 a bottle,” said Chau Nguyen, who owns Nancy’s Nails with his wife..
Read the full article by Josie Huang from KPCC.
