Ventilation and Extraction

[Oceana]

What is the correct amount of extraction ventilation required when working as a nail technician?

I am interested to know just how many of you have adequate extraction ventilation in your facial area whilst working.

When I say this I mean proper extraction, not just desk filters or fans.

What do you mobile technicians do for extraction ventilation when working in peoples homes? And you home technicians - do you have an effective extraction ventilation system? Especially as you live in your houses 24/7....

Lets hear your thoughts!

 

[Oceana]

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hc28.html

Found this link, may be of interest!

 

[The Beauty Zoo]

Hi Clare!

Just read through that link and noticed that it was last updated in 1999 .....I wonder if things have changed since then????!!!!!

:hug: XXXX

 

[Oceana]

Maybe Nikki but the points are still valid any time! The vapours still need to be taken away....

 

[jac extreme]

Maybe Nikki but the points are still valid any time! The vapours still need to be taken away....

personally Claire I just open the back door and have a fag, gets rid of the fumes quick smart:lol:
Honeslty though I have a window, extractor fan and a door and thats all.

 

[Cathie!]

I have a commercial ventaxia extractor in the door and a louvre window which I keep open for the ventilation, we are also having overhead extration put in soon.

I don't know if there is any H&S advice as to how many m3/s an extractor should pull.

 

[jac extreme]

I have a commercial ventaxia extractor in the door and a louvre window which I keep open for the ventilation, we are also having overhead extration put in soon.

I don't know if there is any H&S advice as to how many m3/s an extractor should pull.

WHATS AN M3 CATHIE

 

[Cathie!]

cubic metre! I don't know if they have to pull a certain amount out of the room per hour or per second. Extractor fans tell you how many cubic metres per hour they extract but I don't know if there are any regs to say how many it should be.

 

[Urban Geek]

I have proper extraction ventilation in my home salon but I don't have anything at the beauty salon where I am based 3 days a week. Most beauty salons or hairdressers that I have come across which offer nail enhancements have no extraction ventilation.

I will ask hubby the technical information and revert back. (I would have been over-exposed by now if I didn't have this when I started out and my application wasn't as efficient - it is a must!):hug:

 

[The Beauty Zoo]

Maybe Nikki but the points are still valid any time! The vapours still need to be taken away....

Yeah, I agree :biggrin:

The examples they give just looked a bit extreme....to have one side of the dest taken up with the extraction system!! I think maybe todays systems are a little smaller and hopefully more efficient!!!!

Sorry I should have said that in my first post!!!!

 

[Oceana]

Nikki yes I know what you mean!!
My question is how much extraction do we need??

My concern is mobile/home techs do not have the extraction that may be required (i.e whisking the vapours right out and away and outside the building) and neither do most salons! Most nail desks on the market only have a dust filter with no proper extraction.

I have found medical research papers regarding this and a ventilated desk (large extraction area/downdraft with a high air volume/extraction to the outside) reduced exposure from 8.7 ppm to 0.6 ppm over a 6 hour day, which is pretty significant.

So......how do we implement this?
We can all work safely and professionally to minimse the risk but even opening the monomer bottle puts vapours right in our breathing zone....overhead extraction/modified desks/outdoor extraction is all very costly. Is an open window/door enough?
Technician and client health and safety is of utmost importance so the issue of extraction and ventilation is an important one.

Hopefully someone will be able to tell us how much extraction is needed!

 

[1999judy]

Nikki yes I know what you mean!!
My question is how much extraction do we need??

My concern is mobile/home techs do not have the extraction that may be required (i.e whisking the vapours right out and away and outside the building) and neither do most salons! Most nail desks on the market only have a dust filter with no proper extraction.

I have found medical research papers regarding this and a ventilated desk (large extraction area/downdraft with a high air volume/extraction to the outside) reduced exposure from 8.7 ppm to 0.6 ppm over a 6 hour day, which is pretty significant.

So......how do we implement this?
We can all work safely and professionally to minimse the risk but even opening the monomer bottle puts vapours right in our breathing zone....overhead extraction/modified desks/outdoor extraction is all very costly. Is an open window/door enough?
Technician and client health and safety is of utmost importance so the issue of extraction and ventilation is an important one.

Hopefully someone will be able to tell us how much extraction is needed!

Yes I understand what you are saying. I don't think that a lot of mobile therapists would think about this issue. If they did I don't really know how they could deal with it though? Luckily I only do manis and pedis mobile. I have an extractor at work and usually HAVE to keep the window open because the place I work can get really warm because of the sunbeds. It's a good thread though - makes you think.

 

[Nailsinlondon1]

Remember that exposure to vapour in the salon is not considered to be a health or safety risk.
Recent studies by the CIR in the USA found EMA vapour exposure to be safer than initially thought. It is estimated that salon vapour exposure is 100-200 times below safety limits. Similar studies have been done on enamel as well.

The real culprit is the dust. Filtration systems (i.e. the Vapex-D) help control dust, but is not as effective as extraction ventilation. If you own a slaon or work in a salon, I would strongly advise you to look into having an extraction system built in.

The Nail Geek
aka Samuel Sweet

I found this in the search...... maybe an email to Doug might be in usefull, he might have an answer on this one for us....
To get a good extraction unit you will need to know the M3/S area that is being covered....for instance a small room would need less than a larger room or work area....so your air is completly exchanged and not just revamped lol.....old air and crap out and new air in.....
I wonder if any one has really done a correct study and test on this...????
In my Salon, we have overhead Extraction units and I use dust filtration for my desk....

I wonder how hair dressers cope with all the perming and tinting solutions every day..... some smell even stronger than our monomers......

Good thread Clare, food for thought deffo.....

 

[inspirations]

I have always worked correctly by using metal bins, covering containers, disposing of used tissue towels at the end of each day, not wiping the brush too much etc. However, I have noticed that I have not felt well and on discussing it with my doctor, I was advised to take a break. I have suffered headaches after full days, been moody, aggressive, lethargic when not working....in fact all those symptoms suffered by solvent abusers.

I now have one of the talon desks and a fuminator from NSI on top...I didn't realise how much of a difference it would make.

However, I still feel that I do not possess all of the facts about the chemicals that we work with, related to how we can determine what a safe level of exposure is. Overhead extraction to outdoor just isn't viable for me...and if this is what is needed...then count me out!

I have reduced the number of hours I work and am now very aware of not breathing these vapours in.

One last question....I would like to add is whether tests have been carried out to date to find out if the dust produced or vapours from EMA are a carcinogen (cancer causing!)

Great thread Claire...after all...this is our health and our valuable lives!!!!!

 

[inspirations]

Just need to bump this up again so that hopefully we can get an answer soon.

I did a search on the internet the other day and saw a document that went on to say that a study was done with lab rats and MMA and EMA vapours and they found that it increased heart rates, and breathing became erratic. On autopsy the Livers were damaged too and it had affected their nervous system. Obviously, we are not exposed to the amounts they were, but what is a safe level and what is the extraction needed?

I really don't like the thought that we may be huge lab rats in this industry!

I still don't know if the dust filed off EMA nails can cause Cancer!

 

[The Geek]

I have found medical research papers regarding this and a ventilated desk (large extraction area/downdraft with a high air volume/extraction to the outside) reduced exposure from 8.7 ppm to 0.6 ppm over a 6 hour day, which is pretty significant.

That is pretty significant. Your saying there is some paper saying that there were 8.7 ppm of monomer is a salon?!?

 

[Oceana]

Yes Sam! It was the mean exposure over 6 hours.

Let me know if you wish to see the study.

 

[Vetty]

As a mobile technician I can't have any form of extraction ventilation! Thst doesn't mean I don't try and work safely though...... I always have covered containers, just the right amount of monomer for that hand, a minature metal bin with a lid etc.

Also, I only work on one client then I go somewhere else - so I have vapours for a little while then I go out in the fresh air (well my car!)..... It's not as if I sit in an unventilated room all day (like many nail room rented from hair salons are).

I'm not sure what exactly I could do as a full-time mobile..... Good thread btw, v. thought-provoking....

 

[Oceana]

Another question I have - do mobile extraction units (filtered extraction) i.e not removing air outside have the same if any effect as total removal extraction i.e taking the air outside via a hose?

 

[geeg]

Another question I have - do mobile extraction units (filtered extraction) i.e not removing air outside have the same if any effect as total removal extraction i.e taking the air outside via a hose?

No they are not as effective as EXTRACTION ventilation which is why Creative have always since 1979 recommended EV use.

I do not see the necessity for mobile technicians to have extraction ventilation. They would not be working in unsafe limits and neither are they static in one place all day long.

It is in the salon situation where there are often more than one technician etc which need good extraction ventilation.