When beauty companies started producing nail polishes free of the chemicals formaldehyde, toluene, and dibutyl phthalate, we were happy knowing that our favorite pastime suddenly became a little less bad for our bodies (because, come on, it's not like these nail lacquers suddenly become drinkable without the "toxic three"). Well, as it turns out — JK!
California's Department of Toxic Substances Control recently found substantial amounts of one or more of the above chemicals in polishes labeled "toxic-free". And, since polishes often don't come with a list of ingredients like a box of Cheerios, this kind of mislabeling puts salon workers at risk for cancer, asthma, birth defects, and more, as they inhale these substances all day long — not to mention that this practice deceives customers into thinking they're getting a different product than they really are.
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To make things even worse, the companies behind these polishes — which include Dare To Ware, Cacie, Chelsea, New York Summer, and Golden Girl, if you were wondering — aren't 'fessing up: Netwon Luu, the owner of the company that produces Dare To Ware, says his company doesn't use toluene in their products, so "perhaps the polish was contaminated through the lab tests or by some other method." Like what? Did the toluene become sentient and hop in the bottles on its own? Or maybe a technician confused it for another chemical, like one might confuse sugar with salt? Or, gasp, maybe it was sabotage? Someone call the Mythbusters, because we've got a real head-scratcher on our hands. (Gawker)
Photo: Via Gawker