What You're Actually Breathing at the Nail Table — and Why It Matters for Everyone in the Room

When customers walk into a nail salon, they're expecting somewhere relaxing. What they're often getting — and what the technician sitting opposite them breathes for eight hours a day — is a measurable mixture of fine dust, solvent vapours, heavy metals, microplastics, and chemicals that have shown up in workers' urine and breathing-zone air samples by the end of a shift. This isn't an opinion. It's what the published research now consistently shows.

Over the last decade, researchers in Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, Tehran and Michigan have stopped guessing and started measuring. Air monitors went into real salons. Dust was collected from real nail tables. Blood and urine samples came from real technicians before and after shifts. The picture that emerged is consistent, and it carries a clear message for anyone who works in or visits a salon: the air matters, and most salons can do better.

What's actually in the air

Six contaminant categories appear again and again in salon air studies. Each comes from a normal part of the working day — filing, drilling, applying product, removing product, gluing tips, or simply having product containers open on the table.

• Fine particulate matter (PM) from filing and grinding, with some size fractions reaching hundreds of micrograms per cubic metre at the breathing zone (Ebrahimi et al., 2023).
• Total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) from solvents, glues and polish vapours, measured at parts-per-million averages in some salons (Ebrahimi et al., 2023; Goldin et al., 2013).
• Heavy metals — cadmium, lead, nickel, chromium, manganese — found in both dust and breathing-zone air, sometimes above indoor air guidelines, with cancer and non-cancer risk estimates exceeding acceptable thresholds (Zeverdegani & Mohebian, 2024; Mohebian et al., 2024; Zeverdegani et al., 2024).
• Airborne microplastics, mainly acrylic fragments under 50 µm, at an average indoor concentration of ~46 particles per cubic metre and an estimated annual inhalation of ~67,000 particles per person (Chen et al., 2021).
• Photoinitiators — the molecules that make UV gel cure — at "alarmingly high" levels in salon dust, far above control environments, with 10–42 % of the ingested fraction potentially bioaccessible (Shen et al., 2024).
• Organophosphate esters (OPEs), such as triphenyl phosphate (TPHP), in air, dust, masks and workers' urine — with post-shift internal doses notably higher than pre-shift (Jia et al., 2024).

The most important finding: the air mixes

Main contaminants at a glance

What this is doing to the people in the room

Most of the published research focuses on technicians, because they're the ones with chronic, high-dose exposure. What workers report — and what controlled measurements confirm — gives a clear signal about the environment that everyone in the salon is sharing.

Surveys of nail workers, many of them immigrant women, repeatedly report:

• Cough, shortness of breath, nasal and throat irritation, and headaches, consistently linked to poor air quality, dust and chemical odours (Roelofs et al., 2008; Dang et al., 2021; Quirós-Alcalá et al., 2019).
• Skin problems and irritation, partly from dermal contact with contaminated dust and products (Zeverdegani & Mohebian, 2024; Roelofs et al., 2008).
• Work-related stress and concern about chemical exposure, especially among immigrant women workers (Dang et al., 2021; Seo et al., 2024).

A scoping review of 42 studies concluded that nail workers are routinely exposed to VOCs, fine particles and heavy metals, with inadequate ventilation in most salons and VOC concentrations above some regulatory limits (Begum et al., 2025). Another review of hair and nail salons found consistent evidence of increased respiratory risks among workers (Quirós-Alcalá et al., 2019).

The risk assessments published in the last two years are blunter still. Inhalation of heavy metals at the breathing zone produced lifetime cancer-risk estimates above US EPA acceptable ranges for several metals, and hazard quotients above 1 for some non-cancer endpoints (Mohebian et al., 2024). Dermal exposure to heavy-metal-containing dust came in with cancer risks above acceptable levels for nickel, cadmium and chromium (Zeverdegani & Mohebian, 2024). Long-term exposure to photoinitiators — which include molecules linked to carcinogenicity and endocrine disruption — was assessed at "very high" levels in salon dust (Shen et al., 2024).

Why ventilation is the lever that actually works

This is where the studies are most useful, because they don't just measure the problem — they measure what fixes it.

• Salons with carbon dioxide levels above 800–1,000 ppm were the ones with the worst pollutant burden, because high CO₂ indicates inadequate fresh-air supply (Ebrahimi et al., 2023; Goldin et al., 2013; Harrichandra et al., 2020).
• New York City salons that met outdoor airflow requirements had roughly half the TVOC levels of those that didn't (Harrichandra et al., 2020).
• A pilot intervention in New York found that better use of existing local and general exhaust ventilation — or simply opening windows and doors — could reduce TVOCs by 16–82 % during operating hours (Thompson et al., 2025).

Across the literature, four engineering and work-practice controls keep coming up:

1. Local exhaust ventilation or downdraft vented nail tables — capturing dust and fumes at the source, before they enter the breathing zone (Mohebian et al., 2024; Nguyen, 2016; Harrichandra et al., 2020; Thompson et al., 2025).
2. Dust collectors and source-capture systems on filing and drilling stations (Ebrahimi et al., 2023; Zeverdegani et al., 2024; Nguyen, 2016).
3. Regular use and replacement of N95-type masks and disposable nitrile gloves, especially where heavy metals, photoinitiators and OPEs are present in the dust (Zeverdegani & Mohebian, 2024; Jia et al., 2024).
4. Keeping product containers closed when not in use — a small, free intervention that cuts background VOC build-up (Begum et al., 2025).

Now you understand why "the salon smells strong, but the customers are only here for an hour, so they're fine" is not a defensible argument. If the technician's air is loaded, the customer's air is loaded too. The only variable is dose.

What this means for salon owners and technicians

The research isn't asking salons to be hospital clean rooms. It's asking for the ventilation hierarchy that any other dust- and solvent-generating workplace would use. Practically:

1. Improve ventilation first. Check that your salon meets local fresh-air requirements. Use general and local exhaust together. Keep systems running while customers are present, not just at the end of the day (Ebrahimi et al., 2023; Nguyen, 2016; Harrichandra et al., 2020; Thompson et al., 2025).
2. Control the dust at the source. Install downdraft tables or source-capture units near filing and drilling. Wipe surfaces regularly — settled dust gets re-suspended every time a chair moves (Mohebian et al., 2024; Zeverdegani et al., 2024; Shen et al., 2024).
3. Choose lower-impact products and practices. Where you can, choose lower-VOC formulations. Don't generate unnecessary high-dust work. Keep monomers, polish and solvent containers closed when you aren't using them (Begum et al., 2025; Jia et al., 2024; Zhong et al., 2018).
4. Use, and replace, PPE. N95-grade masks (not surgical) and disposable nitrile gloves are the baseline where heavy metals, photoinitiators or OPEs are present (Zeverdegani & Mohebian, 2024; Mohebian et al., 2024; Jia et al., 2024).

What this means for customers

Most customers don't think about the air in a salon until something obvious — a strong solvent smell, watery eyes, a headache — tells them something is wrong. The science says those signals matter, and that there are simple things to look for:

• Visible ventilation or air cleaning — a working extractor, openable windows, or an air purifier running while you're there.
• Smell. A strong, persistent chemical smell is a reliable signal of high VOCs. A salon that smells faintly of product is normal. A salon that smells like a model-aircraft workshop is not.
• Time and crowding. If you have asthma, allergies or a respiratory condition, limit time in very small, crowded or clearly poorly ventilated salons (Gupta & Quinlan, 2021; Saini et al., 2022; Nowicka et al., 2016).

This isn't about avoiding salons. It's about choosing the ones that are looking after the people behind the nail table — because those are the same salons looking after you.

Where IKON.IQ stands — safer products in the bottle, cleaner air in the room

Since 2009, IKON.IQ has stood for safer nail products — HEMA-free builder gels, hypoallergenic gel polish, full ingredient lists on every bottle. The "safer" part has always been the point.

The air in the room is the other half of the same fight. The published research above is consistent: the biggest single lever for cleaner salon air is source capture — pulling dust and fumes out of the air at the point they're generated, before they reach anyone's breathing zone. That's a hardware problem, not a chemistry one. So we stock the hardware too — professional dust- and fume-extraction kit built specifically for nail studios:

• AIRCOM-ONE S850 — top-of-range stationary dust and fume extractor. The one to specify if you're running builder gel, hard gel, acrylic or high-throughput soak-off services and want fumes captured as well as dust.
• AIRCOM-ONE S850 Mobile — same S850 dust and fume capture, mounted on a matched lightweight wood tabletop (≈14 kg total). For training rooms, mobile technicians and any workstation that can't stay permanent.
• AIRCOM-ONE S425 — quieter mid-range stationary dust extractor for studios with a single workstation or lighter throughput.
• AIRCOM-ONE S425 Mobile — a genuinely portable tabletop dust extractor (≈5.5 kg). Built for mobile nail technicians, classroom training and exhibition demonstrations — the unit sits directly on the table, with a mobile attachment that doubles as an ergonomic armrest. No drilling, no fixed installation.

Safer products in the bottle and cleaner air around the chair — two halves of the same protect-the-technician brief. Improving air quality in salons protects everyone in the room, not just the staff. Source-capture extraction is the biggest single lever you can pull, and we'd rather you had it — whichever brand you buy — than skip it.

If you'd like help

If you're a salon owner reviewing your ventilation, or a technician trying to make the case to your owner, we're happy to help where we can — including pointing you at the studies cited here.

• Email: help@ikoniqnails.com
• WhatsApp: +49 160 649 7218
• Contact form: Contact Us

References

Begum, T., Wilson, R., Sarah, L., Labrooy, A., Porcaro, E., & X, G. (2025). The nail salon workforce: a systematic scoping review of carcinogen exposure assessments, health outcome, and workforce intervention research. Reviews on Environmental Health, 0. doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2025-0070

Chen, E., Lin, K., Jung, C., Chang, C., & Chen, C. (2021). Characteristics and influencing factors of airborne microplastics in nail salons. The Science of the Total Environment, 151472. doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151472

Dang, J., Rosemberg, M., & Le, A. (2021). Perceived work exposures and expressed intervention needs among Michigan nail salon workers. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 94, 2001–2013. doi.org/10.1007/s00420-021-01719-6

Ebrahimi, V., Yarahmadi, R., Salehi, M., & Ashtarinezhad, A. (2023). Assessing occupational exposure of airborne PMs and TVOCs in the nail salons in Tehran city, Iran. Heliyon, 9. doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23088

Goldin, L., Ansher, L., Berlin, A., Cheng, J., Kanopkin, D., Khazan, A., Kisivuli, M., Lortie, M., Peterson, E., Pohl, L., Porter, S., Zeng, V., Skogstrom, T., Fragala, M., Myatt, T., Stewart, J., & Allen, J. (2013). Indoor Air Quality Survey of Nail Salons in Boston. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 16, 508–514. doi.org/10.1007/s10903-013-9856-y

Gupta, A., & Quinlan, E. (2021). Fungal Lung: The Risk of Fungal Exposure to Nail Care Professionals. Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association. doi.org/10.7547/20-269

Harrichandra, A., Roelofs, C., & Pavilonis, B. (2020). Occupational Exposure and Ventilation Assessment in New York City Nail Salons. Annals of Work Exposures and Health. doi.org/10.1093/annweh/wxaa035

Jia, T., Keller, A., Gao, L., Liu, W., Liu, S., Xu, X., Yin, F., He, Y., Mao, T., Deng, J., Hussain, J., & Chen, C. (2024). Organophosphate Ester Exposure in Nail Salons: Health Implications for Workers. Environmental Pollution, 125013. doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2024.125013

Mohebian, Z., Paridokht, F., Zeverdegani, S., & Mohammadi, F. (2024). Inhalation exposure to toxic heavy metals in nail salon technicians and health risk assessment using Monte Carlo simulation. Inhalation Toxicology, 36, 90–99. doi.org/10.1080/08958378.2024.2315124

Nguyen, C. (2016). Indoor Air Quality of Nail Salons in the Greater Los Angeles Area: Assessment of Chemical and Particulate Matter Exposures and Ventilation.

Nowicka, D., Nawrot, U., Włodarczyk, K., Pajączkowska, M., Patrzałek, M., Pęcak, A., Mozdyniewicz, P., & Fleischer, M. (2016). Detection of dermatophytes in human nail and skin dust produced during podiatric treatments in people without typical clinical signs of mycoses. Mycoses, 59. doi.org/10.1111/myc.12486

Quirós-Alcalá, L., Pollack, A., Tchangalova, N., DeSantiago, M., & Kavi, L. (2019). Occupational Exposures Among Hair and Nail Salon Workers: a Scoping Review. Current Environmental Health Reports, 6, 269–285. doi.org/10.1007/s40572-019-00247-3

Roelofs, C., Azaroff, L., Holcroft, C., Nguyen, H., & Doan, T. (2008). Results from a Community-based Occupational Health Survey of Vietnamese-American Nail Salon Workers. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 10, 353–361. doi.org/10.1007/s10903-007-9084-4

Saini, K., Tran, T., Khosravi, M., Krishnan, J., Tower, D., & Shih, C. (2022). Toenail Dust as a Potential Occupational Hazard in Podiatric Medicine: A Comprehensive Literature Review. Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association, 112(5). doi.org/10.7547/20-197

Seo, J., Han, I., Au, E., Li, A., Tomas, C., & Chao, Y. (2024). Evaluating Occupational Workforce and Practices in New York Metropolitan Nail Salons. NEW SOLUTIONS, 34, 268–277. doi.org/10.1177/10482911241290554

Shen, J., Liu, J., Ji, X., Liang, J., Feng, X., Liu, X., Wang, Y., Zhang, Q., Qu, G., Yan, B., & Liu, R. (2024). Nail salon dust reveals alarmingly high photoinitiator levels: Assessing occupational risks. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 475, 134913. doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134913

Thompson, R., Ierardi, A., Fisher, S., & Pavilonis, B. (2025). Clearing the Air: A Pilot Study of Ventilation Interventions in New York City Nail Salons. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. doi.org/10.1002/ajim.70012

Zeverdegani, S., & Mohebian, Z. (2024). Assessing the health risks of dermal exposure to heavy metals dust among nail salon technicians. Work, 78, 1069–1079. doi.org/10.3233/wor-230336

Zeverdegani, S., Mohebian, Z., Mohammadi, F., & Tajik, L. (2024). Semi-quantitative health risk assessment of heavy metal dust exposure among nail technicians using the SQRA technique and Monte Carlo simulation. Toxicology and Industrial Health, 40, 221–231. doi.org/10.1177/07482337241233308

Zhong, L., Batterman, S., & Milando, C. (2018). VOC sources and exposures in nail salons: a pilot study in Michigan, USA. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 92, 141–153. doi.org/10.1007/s00420-018-1353-0