Constituents
Today’s nail polish is simply a refined version of the paint on vehicles. It is now used to make people look beautiful by not easily cracking or flaking with the natural movement of the nail. Most nail polishes are made of nitrocellulose dissolved in a solvent (e.g. butyl acetate or ethyl acetate) and either left clear or colored with various pigments. Nail polish was never intended to be used as a bomb, however, it could be due to nitrocellulose. Nitrocellulose is highly flammable. It is also called ‘flash paper’, or when intended to cause a flame, ‘guncotton.’ Basic components included are: film forming agents, resins and plasticizers, solvents, and coloring agents. Adhesive polymers (e.g. tosylamide-formaldehyde resin) ensure that the nitrocellulose adheres to the nail's surface. Plasticizers (e.g. camphor) are chemicals that link between polymer chains, spacing them to make the film sufficiently flexible after drying. Pigments and sparkling particles (e.g. mica) add desired color and reflecting characteristics. Scientist M toed added that, “Coloring may also be attributable to the presence of chemicals such as chromium oxide greens, chromium hydroxide, ferric ferrocyanide, ferric ammonium ferrocyanide, stannic oxide, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, carmine, ultramarines, and manganese violet.” In order to get that glittery/shimmer look in the color, mica, bismuth oxychloride, natural pearls, and aluminum powder is added into the ingredients of the nail polish. Thickening agents (e.g. stearalkonium hectorite) are added to maintain the sparkling particles in suspension while in the bottle. Ultraviolet stabilizers (e.g. benozophenone-1) resist color changes when the dry film is exposed to direct sunlight.
Nail polish ingredients often include toluene. Solvents such as toluene and xylene are petroleum-based products that have been linked to cancer. Formaldehyde (formalin) may cause allergic reactions and is unsafe for use by asthmatic people. It is a carcinogen.
Nail polish makers are under pressure to reduce or eliminate toxic ingredients, including phthalates, toluene, and formaldehyde. In September 2006, several makers agreed to phase out dibutyl phthalate, which has been linked to testicular problems in lab animals and humans, in updated formulations. Some makers eliminated formaldehyde from their products, others still use it.
Studies performed on female rats discovered that DBP, also known as phthalates, have been causing birth defects. It was soon removed from the ingredients of nail polish. However, what the scientists failed to realize is that what holds true to rats does not always hold true to humans. "The amount of chemicals used in animal studies is probably a couple of hundred times higher than what you'd be exposed to from using nail polish every week or so," says Paul Foster, PhD, a senior fellow at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "So the chance of any individual phthalate producing such harm is very slim."
Water-based nail polish is based on an acrylic polymer emulsion (e.g. styrene-acrylate copolymer), and pigments similar to those used in watercolor paints. This is marketed as an environmentally-conscious product, since nail polish is considered a hazardous waste by some regulatory bodies such as the Los Angeles Department of Public Works). In this application, the solvent (water) does not completely evaporate as in the case of the traditional nail polish; part of the water is absorbed through the fingernail.
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Famous quotes containing the word constituents:
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Will mankind never learn that policy is not morality,—that it never secures any moral right, but considers merely what is expedient? chooses the available candidate,—who is invariably the devil,—and what right have his constituents to be surprised, because the devil does not behave like an angel of light? What is wanted is men, not of policy, but of probity,—who recognize a higher law than the Constitution, or the decision of the majority.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)