Woman who gets fake nails could be getting something else in the bargain - a dangerous dose of poison.
A toxin eradicated from the beauty industry 25 years ago has made a quiet comeback in nail salons nationwide, including New York - and nobody's doing anything for stopping it.Methyl methacrylate (MMA) can rip nails off fingers, cause nerve problems and severe rashes - and over the long term hurt kidneys, livers fetuses and livers.
"It's being sold openly. You can buy it all over the place," said California beauty-industry chemist Douglas Schoon, who studied the problem.
MMA is found mostly at discount salons because it costs $20 to $60 a gallon, compared to about $200 for top-of-the-line, safer products.
Manicurists combine liquid MMA with a powder to build so-called sculptured, or acrylic, nails. It is also sometimes used in acrylic "wraps" of artificial nail tips.
The super-cheap chemical isn't supposed to be used by manicurists.
But Post reporters easily bought MMA products from two Queens beauty-supply stores - and during a random check of 13 nail salons found the toxin in two of them. Two wouldn't say what they used, and two more didn't know.
Employees at both supply stores said they had no idea MMA shouldn't be used on nails.
Almost no information about the acrylic is available in Korean or Vietnamese - two groups that have cornered the cut-rate salon market.
Competition is so tough, some salon owners get the cheapest product they can find, said Michael Limb, head of the Asian American Advisory Council and member of the state board that licenses manicurists.
