“You can’t imagine how many chemicals are being used by workers in nail salons everyday. Most of us do not have enough knowledge about the health hazards of the products we are using.”
- Connie, a California cosmetologist who has suffered respiratory problems
from working in beauty salons for 13 years.
There are over 10,000 nail salon workers in Metro Portland, and over 50% speak Vietnamese and languages other than English. OPAL has recently participated in the emerging Oregon Healthy Nail Salons Collaborative, currently convened by environmental and health public and academic institutions including DEQ, Multnomah County Health and Oregon Health Sciences University.
OPAL recently helped co-sponsor a strategic planning session with a table of government staff in hopes of clarifying a vision for engaging the community and committing to next steps. For more information contact OPAL Board Chair Ben Duncan who is a lead convenor through his role in the Multnomah County Health Department.
