in one of the country’s most rapidly
expanding industries workers face
prolonged exposure to toxins and
carcinogens almost everyday often
working long and taxing hours many of
them are completely unaware of the
occupational hazards they face an
exploitation is rampant within the
industry especially among newly
immigrated workers it may seem like I’m
describing a chemical plant or toxic
waste disposal site but this is the
reality facing thousands of American
nail salon workers let’s begin with a
question I’d like a show of hands here
how many of you have ever had your nails
done if so then chances are you’ve
gotten away for two of this stuff I
don’t know about you but just being in
near this gives me a headache now can
you imagine continuously inhaling it for
eight hours a day five days a week
there’s a reason that nail polish smells
so bad it’s packed with chemicals that
you would never want near you let alone
on your skin let’s take a look at what’s
inside toluene know to damage the eyes
skin lungs and nervous system dibutyl
phthalate not only is hard to pronounce
but exposure to high levels of it has
been linked to birth defects
formaldehyde this is what they use to
preserve dead animals and jars need i
say more adverse effects of chemicals
found a nail salon products commonly
used by workers include skin irritation
respiratory issues and cancer inadequate
personal protective measures and the
lack of awareness of occupational
hazards have led to many people in the
nail industry working in unsafe
environments in addition government
restrictions on the usage of such
chemicals in cosmetics and in commercial
environments are lenient the US Food and
Drug Administration does not require
pre-market approval for most cosmetics
or test to demonstrate product safety
furthermore there is no obligation for
cosmetic companies to share safety
information with the government when my
aunt arrived in America 20 years ago she
began working as a nail technician and
eventually opened her own salon through
years of painstaking practice
she learned paint brightly-colored
beautiful and intricate floral designs
on her customers nails every day the
beauty of her work belies its undeniable
toll on her health not only has she
dealt with breathing problems and
painful skin rashes for years but her
daughter my cousin angel was born with
hydrocephalus or fluid in her brain most
teenagers her age would be starting to
be active on social media joining clubs
in school or trying on makeup for the
first time angel will most likely never
be able to walk talk or live on her own
she’ll never get to experience all the
happiness that comes with growing up the
issues she and my aunt have experienced
confused and worried me our family
history revealed no genetic
predisposition to such conditions almost
everyone else in our family was totally
healthy so what could be causing the
series of problems I suspected that it
had little to do with my aunt’s genetics
and everything to do with her workplace
nearly half of nail salon workers in the
United States are Vietnamese descent so
in order to investigate the results of
exposure to known environmental
toxicants used the nail salons within
the demographic I created the survey
containing questions pertaining to
respondents personal health and compared
nail salon workers responses to those of
non nail salon workers currently I
received 308 surveys 158 of which were
completed by nail salon workers although
previous studies have analyzed the
concentrations of volatile organic
compounds in nail salons few have
focused on the workers themselves so the
goal of my research was to gather
herself record of responses from
Vietnamese American nail salon workers
across the country in order to evaluate
here are some graphs illustrating the
data I gathered these are the result of
my chi-square test which indicated a
significant relationship between nail
salon work and experiencing the health
symptoms listed here this graph shows
that higher percentage of nail salon
workers reported experiencing the
symptoms shown in addition the nail
salon workers were more likely to have
children with both the
sickle and cognitive developmental
disabilities although I finished
gathering data for my research project
my work is far from over
my curiosity about the health
consequences of salon work inspire this
project and led me to a conclusion with
much wider implications my research
could benefit workers in the nail
industry by yielding valuable insight
into the risks vietnamese-american nail
salon workers face the relationship
between salon work and certain health
issues suggested by my data could be
used to support the introduction of laws
to improve workers rights such
legislation could include limits on
concentrations of chemicals in salons
mandatory ventilation and filtration
systems and regulation of workers wages
and business hours by no means are my
findings only applicable to nail salon
work it’s no secret that many industries
routinely exploit immigrant workers to
maximize profits forcing them to work
unreasonably long hours in unsafe
conditions while earning close to
minimum wage have you ever driven by a
construction site and looked at the
clouds of dust that filled with air
what about Florida’s famous orange
groves where workers pick fruit from
dangerously tall trees have you ever
wondered just how long the guy in the
commercial truck next to you on the
highway has been driving more
importantly have you ever thought about
what we can do to help people like them
so this is what I learned from my
research but it could be relevant to all
of you every discovery whether
scientific cultural or artistic has to
begin somewhere my research began with a
simple question I noticed something that
didn’t seem quite right in the world
around me and decided to examine it more
closely if you find a topic you’re
passionate about don’t hesitate to
investigate further inquire be bold
there are so many unanswered questions
out there who knows what you might
discover thank you [Applause]
expanding industries workers face
prolonged exposure to toxins and
carcinogens almost everyday often
working long and taxing hours many of
them are completely unaware of the
occupational hazards they face an
exploitation is rampant within the
industry especially among newly
immigrated workers it may seem like I’m
describing a chemical plant or toxic
waste disposal site but this is the
reality facing thousands of American
nail salon workers let’s begin with a
question I’d like a show of hands here
how many of you have ever had your nails
done if so then chances are you’ve
gotten away for two of this stuff I
don’t know about you but just being in
near this gives me a headache now can
you imagine continuously inhaling it for
eight hours a day five days a week
there’s a reason that nail polish smells
so bad it’s packed with chemicals that
you would never want near you let alone
on your skin let’s take a look at what’s
inside toluene know to damage the eyes
skin lungs and nervous system dibutyl
phthalate not only is hard to pronounce
but exposure to high levels of it has
been linked to birth defects
formaldehyde this is what they use to
preserve dead animals and jars need i
say more adverse effects of chemicals
found a nail salon products commonly
used by workers include skin irritation
respiratory issues and cancer inadequate
personal protective measures and the
lack of awareness of occupational
hazards have led to many people in the
nail industry working in unsafe
environments in addition government
restrictions on the usage of such
chemicals in cosmetics and in commercial
environments are lenient the US Food and
Drug Administration does not require
pre-market approval for most cosmetics
or test to demonstrate product safety
furthermore there is no obligation for
cosmetic companies to share safety
information with the government when my
aunt arrived in America 20 years ago she
began working as a nail technician and
eventually opened her own salon through
years of painstaking practice
she learned paint brightly-colored
beautiful and intricate floral designs
on her customers nails every day the
beauty of her work belies its undeniable
toll on her health not only has she
dealt with breathing problems and
painful skin rashes for years but her
daughter my cousin angel was born with
hydrocephalus or fluid in her brain most
teenagers her age would be starting to
be active on social media joining clubs
in school or trying on makeup for the
first time angel will most likely never
be able to walk talk or live on her own
she’ll never get to experience all the
happiness that comes with growing up the
issues she and my aunt have experienced
confused and worried me our family
history revealed no genetic
predisposition to such conditions almost
everyone else in our family was totally
healthy so what could be causing the
series of problems I suspected that it
had little to do with my aunt’s genetics
and everything to do with her workplace
nearly half of nail salon workers in the
United States are Vietnamese descent so
in order to investigate the results of
exposure to known environmental
toxicants used the nail salons within
the demographic I created the survey
containing questions pertaining to
respondents personal health and compared
nail salon workers responses to those of
non nail salon workers currently I
received 308 surveys 158 of which were
completed by nail salon workers although
previous studies have analyzed the
concentrations of volatile organic
compounds in nail salons few have
focused on the workers themselves so the
goal of my research was to gather
herself record of responses from
Vietnamese American nail salon workers
across the country in order to evaluate
here are some graphs illustrating the
data I gathered these are the result of
my chi-square test which indicated a
significant relationship between nail
salon work and experiencing the health
symptoms listed here this graph shows
that higher percentage of nail salon
workers reported experiencing the
symptoms shown in addition the nail
salon workers were more likely to have
children with both the
sickle and cognitive developmental
disabilities although I finished
gathering data for my research project
my work is far from over
my curiosity about the health
consequences of salon work inspire this
project and led me to a conclusion with
much wider implications my research
could benefit workers in the nail
industry by yielding valuable insight
into the risks vietnamese-american nail
salon workers face the relationship
between salon work and certain health
issues suggested by my data could be
used to support the introduction of laws
to improve workers rights such
legislation could include limits on
concentrations of chemicals in salons
mandatory ventilation and filtration
systems and regulation of workers wages
and business hours by no means are my
findings only applicable to nail salon
work it’s no secret that many industries
routinely exploit immigrant workers to
maximize profits forcing them to work
unreasonably long hours in unsafe
conditions while earning close to
minimum wage have you ever driven by a
construction site and looked at the
clouds of dust that filled with air
what about Florida’s famous orange
groves where workers pick fruit from
dangerously tall trees have you ever
wondered just how long the guy in the
commercial truck next to you on the
highway has been driving more
importantly have you ever thought about
what we can do to help people like them
so this is what I learned from my
research but it could be relevant to all
of you every discovery whether
scientific cultural or artistic has to
begin somewhere my research began with a
simple question I noticed something that
didn’t seem quite right in the world
around me and decided to examine it more
closely if you find a topic you’re
passionate about don’t hesitate to
investigate further inquire be bold
there are so many unanswered questions
out there who knows what you might
discover thank you [Applause]
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