Acrylic Nails & Respiratory Issues: A Personal Account & Potential Risks

Question
I started learning acrylic nails last year at college, during this time I started to get coughs and colds regularly, they got worse until it got to the point my health was really going downhill, fast. My GP mentioned that it may be occupational asthma ( I already suffer from mild asthma) since then I have been doing a bit research and found something called Reactive Airways Dysfunction Syndrome, the symptoms sounded so familiar. However I can use gel nails without the same results, have you heard anything about this?

Answer
The most important thing about what we do for a living is KNOWING our products, and the science behind them.  If you were working without proper ventilation, then it's entirely possible that what you are experiencing is mild overexposure, although I have only ever seen this happen in extreme situations where the tech was many many hours with no ventilation- like being bottled up with the products!

I developed mild asthma from working in a situation similar to this, and after a few year break, decided to really study my products inside and out to prevent it from happening again!

I am not a GP, so I cannot diagnose or suggest treatments for the disorder you have outlined, but I can tell you that using gels COULD help, but might not- it all depends on the gel products you choose to use- many traditional gel lines have large amounts of allergens in them, such as formaldehyde, toulene, and gluteraldehyde.  I only use Brisa UV Gel by CND, they are hypoallergenic, and the finished product is just GORGEOUS.

Your best bet is to start studying the EXACT ways to use your products, and this is not information you generally get in beauty school/college- it's information you will have to seek out!

Go register on the site: www.thesalongeek.com and register.  Start running searches on working safely- the information you find will blow your mind.

It's one of the biggest reasons that those of us extensively trained get so on our soapbox about the opinion that our job is easy, and requires not much effort, skill, or brainpower ;)

Good luck!!!  I hope to see you on the salon geek lurking around :)