Language barriers are a significant problem for me, my coworkers, and my business to select safe products for the environment, my business, and my customers. Sometimes when I go to buy products, I don’t know which are safe and which may not be.
Mong Thu Pham, Nail Care Professional
I have been working in nail salons for 12 years and after a few years, began noticing reactions to nail salon products that I was working with. For example red eyes, fatigue, numbness in my hands, runny nose & sneezing, unable to sleep, etc.
If possible toxic elements are not disclosed, it puts me and my clients, and my business at risk for health problems. My business could lose clients and workers if the nail chemicals were causing health problems. Also, the environment is negatively affected. It is very important that information about nail products is clearly communicated to customers, nail salon owners, and the public.
Knowing the ingredients helps me as a nail worker to not worry about my health by avoiding possibly toxic elements for me and my customers. I would like to see warning labels and company warnings in Vietnamese about possible toxic ingredients in nail products. In Vietnamese because most nail workers and owners in California speak Vietnamese. Other languages would also be helpful. It would also be helpful if wholesalers/distributors of nail products would provide a list in Vietnamese of harmful chemicals and products that may contain them.
Some products that I get in bulk are not labeled regarding toxic ingredients etc.
Language barriers are a significant problem for me, my coworkers, and my business to select safe products for the environment, my business, and my customers. Sometimes when I go to buy products, I don’t know which are safe and which may not be. If labels and information were clearly marked in Vietnamese, the language barrier problem would be much less.
Chemical exposure awareness training by California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative has helped me select safe products to use in my salon. I can also recommend safer products to use in the salon and for my customers. I can educate my staff about safe product use, too. I talk to my staff often about how to handle nail products in a safe way and to wear protection such as masks and gloves for their safety. As a member of the Collaborative, I get training and information about nail product chemicals. I think this information should be available to everyone including workers, owners, and customers.
Español – LA HISTORIA DE MONG THU
