EPA to put added focus on nail salons

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy says she is set to take on public health concerns and working conditions at nail salons.

McCarthy will visit a San Francisco nail salon Wednesday to discuss public health issues with workers there, she said Tuesday. An EPA official said McCarthy will meet with a shop owner and the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, a group that works on health issues in salons.

The event comes after a New York Times article last week about poor working conditions at New York-area nail salons.

{mosads}The EPA already does some work on nail salon working conditions, partnering with a handful of other federal agencies to look at outreach programs and potential regulatory changes based around health concerns in shops, such as workers’ exposure to chemicals. The agency released a guide on chemical exposure in shops in 2007.

“All of this is done in a way that’s multilingual, so we can reach the target audience, but there is so much more work to be done,” McCarthy said at a White House event on Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders.

McCarthy said articles like the one in the Times, which has spurred outrage among officials in New York, are important tools for regulators to make their case for new public health rules.

“I know it’s challenging when we read about the environmental challenges we have on the front page of the New York Times, but frankly, that’s our job, is to get them on the front page of the New York Times so that we can get the leverage to regulate effectively and appropriately,” she said.

“Education is great, but ensuring public health through law is really what we’re all about.”

—This article was updated at 4:25 p.m.