---
title: Toxins in Nailpolish
date: 2009-06-15T17:34:31Z
modified: 2009-06-15T17:34:31Z
permalink: "https://elizabethyarnell.com/toxins-in-nailpolish/"
type: post
status: publish
excerpt: ""
wpid: 995
categories:
  - Living Naturally
  - Recommended Products
tags:
  - breast cancer
  - campaign for safe cosmetics
  - dibutyl phthalate
  - endocrine disruptors
  - Environmental Working Group
  - nail polish
  - OPI nail polish
  - petroleum byproducts
  - salon workers
  - toluene
  - toxic nail polish
  - toxin-free nail polish
author: Elizabeth
---

You may be surprised to learn this natural girl keeps her toenails prettily polished in fun magentas and reds. It’s a monthly ritual for my mother and I to steal an hour together at the nail salon while enjoying the decadent pleasure of a pedicure.

That’s why I was pleased to learn that [OPI Products](http://www.ewg.org/node/18792 "opi removes chemicals from nail polish"), the worlds’ largest nail polish manufacturer, responded to pressure brought on by the [Campaign for Safe Cosmetics](http://safecosmetics.org "campaign for safe cosmetics") by removing [dibutyl phthalate](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dibutyl_phthalate "dibutyl phthalate") and [toluene](http://www.ewg.org/chemindex/chemicals/23598 "Toluene in nail polish") from its nail polishes in 2006. These are petroleum byproducts (i.e., waste from refining) that are cancer-causing endocrine disruptors.

So when big companies whine that they couldn’t possibly find safer ingredients and still offer an effective product, we should remember the example of OPI and the millions of bottles of nail polish no longer emitting [toxic fumes to sicken salon workers](http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/108581.php "salon workers and breast cancer") or leaching toxins through the nails of polish wearers.