Putting on the poison
May 14, 2015 -- In these climes, we women usually wear open shoes, and so many of us sport nail polish on our toes, not just our fingers. In fact, I think nail polish is more frequently found on toes than on fingers around here. I rarely use nail polish, because the thought of putting those harsh chemicals on my person repulses me. In the wake of the recent exposé regarding the plight of nail salon workers, I thought I’d check into the facts. How well founded is my repulsion, I wonder? My research tells me that in 2006, some people began to protest against the “toxic trio” of chemicals often found in nail polish: Formaldehyde Toluene Dibutyl phthalate Formaldehyde is a carcinogen and, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), it can cause “difficulty breathing, including coughing, asthma-like attacks, and wheezing; allergic reactio...