British Association of Dermatologists are Allergic to Facts!
The BOD's recent statement that nail product allergies have reached epidemic proportions, as widely reported in the main stream media, is a blatant attempt to sex-up the report for their own aims and does not bear close scrutiny.
The definition of epidemic is:
a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time."
a flu epidemic"synonyms: outbreak, plague, scourge, infestation;
The BOD audited 13 UK and Irish dermatology units during 2017, a total of 4931 patients were tested for some nail product ingredients, including (meth)acrylate allergy.
Of these, 1.5 per cent tested positive to 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), the most common (meth)acrylate to cause allergic sensitisation, and 2.4 per cent tested positive to at least one type of (meth)acrylate. After HEMA, the next two top acrylates eliciting a positive reaction were 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate (HPMA, 1%) and ethyl acrylate (EMA, 0.9%); the latter can also be found in medical and other adhesives.
Summary:
- 4931 patients over 12 months
- 2.4% tested positive = 118 people
Well, those 4931 patients went to the dermatologists for some reason! So that is a VERY selective sample.
The UK population with ages 16 to 65 is 41M (office of national statistics), Approximately half are women. Women of this age range are the most likely to visit nail salons.
Therefore by calculation, the percentage of women who visited a dermatologist in 2017:
= (118 / 21M) * 100 = 118 people = 0.0006 %
0.0006% or only 118 of the female population in the UK who showed symptoms of an allergy to nail products, with age 16 to 65 is hardly an epidemic!
Of these, 60% of the women tested, used UV gels or UV hardening gel polishes (shellac), for recreational use. i.e. they are untrained. The majority of the remaining 40% were nail salon workers, no doubt many of those also untrained as there is no legal requirement in the UK for professional qualifications and many high-street salons place profit above health.
In any given year, millions of nail salon services are made in the UK. Yet the BOD could only find 0.0006% of the female population with allergic reactions - most untrained and some working 8 hours a day, 5 days a week with the nail products.
If you dear reader, cleaned your oven for 8 hours a day, without wearing gloves or having adequate ventilation, we are sure that you would not be surprised to suffer a health condition!
The plain and simple fact is, that the safety of cosmetic ingredients is controlled by the EU's Scientific Committee for Consumer Safety. SCCS decides which ingredients are safe, which must have controlled use and which ingredients are banned. The SCCS has banned more than 1000 ingredients compared to the USA's FDA!
And here is the sweet irony. Many of the committee members of the SCCS are dermatologists! So one hand is now blaming the other!
Statistically and to give this some perspective, the home is the most dangerous place for accidents or death to occur. You are more likely to develop an MRSA infection in hospital, than to develop an allergy as a nail salon client.
But if you are one of the hundreds of thousands of medical staff who develop an allergy to latex due to wearing gloves at work, better hope that you don't live in a region where the waiting time to visit a dermatologist can be up to two years.
The risk to salon clients, who on average visit their salon every 4 weeks for little over an hour, is so low to be incalculable. So enjoy your manicures, nail art and pedicures, but as with all things in life, do choose a nail salon carefully - there is a World of difference out there and infections due to poor hygiene are more common.