Car paint for the nails? No thank you!

Whether black, red, blue, pink or beige - many love it and almost everyone wears it: nail polish. It should last as long as possible, dry quickly and cover well. What it shouldn't do: have a carcinogenic effect, change DNA, influence fertility or pollute the environment. But that's exactly what most nail polishes do. In 2015, researchers from Duke University conducted an American study.

How dangerous is conventional nail polish?

The trendy body accessory was invented in 1920 - originally based on car paint. Carefree we brush the polish in all colors on our nails.

All this with the thought that nothing would get through the solid horn plate anyway. But that is a fatal mistake, because the polish is absorbed by our body through the nails and cuticles and ends up in our organism - all this just 2 hours after application.

For example, the ingredient dibutyl phthalate can cause temporary discomfort such as dizziness, headaches, or nausea.

What should you pay attention to when buying?

For better hold, chemicals such as formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate and toluene have been added to nail polish, which have been shown to be particularly harmful to health. That is why most manufacturers now do without these three ingredients. You can see that through the 3-Free formulas.

How do you properly dispose of nail polish?

Liquid nail polish residue should be disposed of at the nearest hazardous waste collection point. The plastic lid can easily be thrown in the yellow bin, the empty glass bottle in the glass container. Dry nail polish residues can be thrown into the household waste bin, as the environmentally harmful solvents have already evaporated by then.

The Free designations

Based on the free formulas, consumers can see which ingredients the respective manufacturer does not use. The higher the number, the lower the sum of potentially harmful substances.

• 3-Free : free of formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyl phthalate
• 5-Free : also dispenses with formaldehyde resin and camphor
• 7-Free : no animal ingredients or animal testing
• 10-Free : no parabens, fragrances or xylenes
• 12-Free : does not contain any alcohol or gluten

Kia Charlotte

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