from Environmental Science & Technology
Manufacturers of nail polish have started removing potentially toxic ingredients over the last few years, and labeling their products as being free of toxic substances. However, a report in the journal Environmental Science & Technology suggests the reformulated nail polishes are not necessarily safer, despite their labels. Authors examined forty different nail polishes and found a toxic plasticizer known as DnBP had mostly been removed. But they also found nail polishes with labels that promote fewer ingredients don’t necessarily have reduced toxicity. Authors say it is not as simple as what substances are not in nail polish, but determining what might have been added as substitutes—a practice known as regrettable substitution.