By Louis Chan
AsAmNews National Correspondent
Walk past many nail salons and you’ll notice the workers are usually wearing some sort of face mask.
There’s a good reason for that. The fumes from the chemicals used to make nail polish can be toxic.
The products can contain the chemicals toluene, formaldehyde or dibutyle phthalate. All are associated with respiratory problems, cancer and birth defects, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
That’s why the EPA has awarded a $120,000 grant to Asian Health Services to reduce the impact of these chemicals in nail salons in three San Francisco Bay Area counties-Alameda, San Francisco and San Mateo.
“It protects us a lot,” said Lee Anh Truong, owner of Leanne’s Nail Salon in Alameda, said to the East Bay Times. “Eight hours we work here. All the chemicals. We don’t know.”
The grant money will be loaned to nail salons to help them purchase air ventilation systems.
“Nail salons make up an important economic fabric for our immigrant communities. We have a unique opportunity to provide the capital and resources needed for these small businesses to improve the health of their workers, customers, and environment,” said Julia Liou, director of program planning and development at Asian Health Services and co-founder of the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative. “We look forward to pioneering this innovative approach towards building healthier communities.”
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