I’m a girly girl and I nearly always have nail polish on my toenails. Not on my fingernails, mind you, since they get wrecked in no time in the garden and in the barn. But I just love the sight of pretty toes.
But now I’m re-thinking that little personal indulgence based on some new research from Duke University and the Environmental Working Group that says we absorb endocrine disrupting chemicals from most nail polishes.
The study in Environment International, found that all 26 women in the study had a metabolite of triphenyl phosphate, or TPHP, in their bodies just 10 to 14 hours after painting their nails. Their levels of diphenyl phosphate or DPHP, which forms when the body metabolizes TPHP, had increased by nearly sevenfold.
The study included 10 commonly used nail polishes and the toxic chemical was found in 8.
Endocrine disruption means that the chemical interferes with normal hormone function and can cause reproductive and developmental irregularities.
TDHP (sometimes called TPP) is a chemical also used in fire retardants in foam furniture and plastics manufacturing.
Worst of all, there are no labeling requirements for TPHP or DPHP, so it’s very difficult to know if you are messing yourself up by having pretty toes or fingers.
it’s also very disturbing that these products are being marketed as safe, when they clearly are not (like fragrances, cosmetics and personal care products, but that’s a story for another day). Even worse, my young granddaughters love to paint their nails and their mom’s and mine.
The goods news is that there is an excellent resource to determine if your favorite nail polish is toxic and to find one that’s not. The Environmental Working Group has an extensive database of cosmetics, including nail polishes. Click here to find out what‘s good and what’s not. Warning—sometimes EWG forces you to give up your e-mail address or even solicits a donation in order to see the info and sometimes not. I find that extremely annoying, but there is a workaround–just Google safe nail polish and an open link will come up.
Here’s a synopsis of the bad guys:
Sally Hansen (ouch—my fave because it is so tough)
OPI
Wet N Wild
Revlon
Beauty Without Cruelty
Among the safer nail polishes are:
Aquarella (Expensive! $18 a bottle!)
Piggy Paint (much more reasonable–about $8 a bottle)
Remember, toxicity also includes base coat, which is probably the most important since it is indirect contact with your bare nail, so be sure you’re getting a safe base coat as well.
