Policy Successes, Challenges and Implications of Emerging Health and Safety Issues Faced by Vietnamese Immigrant Nail Salon Workers and Owners

Nail salon and cosmetology workers handle solvents, chemical solutions, glues, and cosmetic products that contain chemicals known to be carcinogenic and suspected to cause reproductive harm on a daily basis. With industry estimates that 80 percent of the 83,500 manicurists in California are Vietnamese immigrant women, there has been growing health and occupational concerns around their chronic exposure to carcinogenic chemicals. California recently passed the Safe Cosmetics Act (SCA), which for the first time requires manufacturers to disclose to the Department of Health Services (DHS) if their products contain chemicals known by the state to cause cancer or birth defects, and authorizes DHS to investigate the health impacts of chemicals in cosmetics linked to cancer or birth defects. Soon after, the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, composed of public health and environmental advocates, and community-based groups, was formed to proactively address the environmental health issues facing the nail salon community through policy advocacy, research, and outreach/education strategies. Collaborative members not only have worked on ensuring the effective implementation of the SCA while conducting health and safety education to the nail salon community, but also have embarked on research regarding nail salon worker demographics, their health risks and health outcomes. This session will discuss: 1) lessons learned from the passage of the SCA, 2) recent public policy efforts by Collaborative members to protect the health and safety of nail salon workers, and 3) policy implications of research on the health status of Vietnamese nail salon workers and other current projects.