Nail dust health risks are the respiratory and skin problems that come from filing acrylic and gel nails and from the vapour of the liquids used to build them. The Health and Safety Executive names them plainly: filing dust can cause wheezing, chest tightness and asthma; acrylic vapour can cause headaches, dizziness and nausea. We are Ravair, a UK supplier of extraction equipment for nail bars, and this guide explains what those risks are, what the law asks of a salon owner, and where extraction at the table fits in.
In one sentence: the dust and vapour produced at a nail station are substances hazardous to health under COSHH, and the employer's duty is to prevent exposure or, where that is not reasonably practicable, to control it adequately.
Source: HSE COSHH Essentials sheet SR13, Nail bars and other beauty services.
What is actually in nail dust?
Nail dust is the fine particulate produced when an acrylic, gel or natural nail is filed, buffed or drilled. It is made of the cured product itself - the acrylic polymer, the gel, the natural keratin - ground into particles small enough to hang in the air at the height of the technician's face. That is the problem in a sentence: the dust is created a few inches from the person breathing it.
HSE's control sheet for nail bars, SR13, describes the hazard without softening it: "Nail filing creates dust which can cause respiratory problems such as wheezing, chest tightness and asthma." Note the word creates. The dust does not arrive from outside; the work itself makes it, every time an e-file touches a nail. A technician working a full day of enhancements produces it continuously, and without extraction it settles on the desk, the lamp, the client's hands and the technician's clothes - and stays in the air of a small room long after the client has left.
The vapour is a separate hazard from a separate source. Acrylic liquid monomer evaporates from the dappen dish and from the wet bead as it is worked; SR13 says acrylic vapour "can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea and irritation." So a nail station produces two things that need controlling: a dust you can sometimes see, and a vapour you can usually smell.
Why do nail technicians develop asthma and dermatitis?
Because they are exposed to a sensitiser and a fine dust for hours a day, close up, often for years. HSE lists occupational asthma and dermatitis as the two health outcomes a nail bar should be watching for, and asks employers to tell workers "how to recognise early signs of asthma and dermatitis" as part of training.
Dermatitis comes mainly from skin contact with the acrylic liquid and powder systems, which SR13 says "can cause dermatitis and may be flammable." It is why the sheet asks for gloves and eye protection when handling chemicals and when filing, for caps to go straight back on containers, and for skin care - warm water, mild cleansers, after-work creams - with the blunt caution that creams "are not a substitute for gloves."
Asthma is the respiratory end of the same story. SR13 asks employers to provide health surveillance for asthma "where there is a reasonable likelihood that this may occur in your workplace," and makes surveillance a requirement where any product in use is labelled "May cause sensitisation by skin contact" or "May cause sensitisation by inhalation." If a bottle on your shelf carries either phrase, that requirement applies to you. We supply extraction equipment; we are not occupational health professionals, and SR13's advice is to consult one on the level of surveillance needed.
What does the law require a salon owner to do?
Two sets of regulations do most of the work. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, known as COSHH, require employers to ensure that exposure to hazardous substances is prevented or, where that is not reasonably practicable, adequately controlled. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, at regulation 6(1), require that "effective and suitable provision shall be made to ensure that every enclosed workplace is ventilated by a sufficient quantity of fresh or purified air."
COSHH is not satisfied by good intentions. It expects a written assessment of the substances in use and the controls applied, and SR13 is the HSE's own description of what "good control practice" looks like for a nail bar. The sheet is careful to say that following it is not compulsory - but that if you do follow it "you will normally be doing enough to comply with the law," and that inspectors "may refer to this guidance." In practice that makes SR13 the yardstick an environmental health officer will hold your salon against.
A COSHH assessment is the salon owner's duty, not the supplier's. What we can do is explain what the guidance asks for and supply equipment built to meet it.
What controls does HSE actually ask for?
SR13 is a "control approach 2" sheet, which HSE labels engineering control: the emphasis is on equipment that removes the contaminant, not on masks. Its first equipment point is the one that matters most: "Provide local exhaust ventilation (LEV) in the form of a downdraught table or a movable hood," with the client's nails "over the downdraught or as close to the extraction hood as possible."
Around that sit the supporting controls. A good standard of general ventilation - SR13 suggests powered wall- or window-mounted fans giving a through flow of clean air. Extracted air either discharged to a safe place outside the building, away from doors, windows and other premises, or "correctly filtered before being returned." Caps back on containers immediately. Contaminated wipes and files in a lined, lidded bin.
Two points surprise salon owners. First, SR13 says respiratory protective equipment "is not normally needed" - the expectation is that extraction does the job, so a technician in a mask all day is a sign the controls are wrong, not right. Second, it states that face coverings worn to reduce droplets "will not protect the wearer from exposure to nuisance odours and dusts produced in nail bars and are not acceptable as a control measure." A cloth mask is not a control.
What is local exhaust ventilation in a nail bar?
Local exhaust ventilation, or LEV, is extraction that captures a contaminant at the point it is made, before it reaches the breathing zone. In a nail bar that means either a downdraught table - a work surface with a grille the client's hands rest over, drawing dust downwards - or a hood positioned beside or above the hands. Both work on the same principle: catch the dust where the file is, not after it has spread through the room.
The alternative many salons still rely on - a room air purifier in the corner, or an open window - is general ventilation. It has a role, and SR13 asks for it, but it is the second line, not the first. Dust that has already travelled from the desk to the far side of the room has already passed the technician's face. Our fume and monomer extractors and dust extractors are LEV in this sense: they sit at the station, and the nail sits over or beside the intake.
Where the extracted air goes matters too. A unit that filters and returns air to the room must filter it properly; SR13's words are "correctly filtered." Activated carbon deals with vapour and odour, and a particulate filter deals with the dust, which is why a nail station generally needs both stages rather than one.
How often must extraction equipment be tested?
LEV carries a statutory duty that catches many salons out. SR13 states that LEV systems "require a statutory 'thorough examination and test' (TExT)," that a competent person should perform it "at least once every 14 months," and that the employer should keep a record "for at least five years" showing the equipment performs as intended.
Day to day, the sheet asks for less formal checks: keep equipment in effective working order as the manufacturer advises, check for damage before starting work, and use a log book to set out the frequency of checking and parts replacement. Filters are the obvious example - a carbon or particulate filter that has loaded up is no longer controlling anything, however reassuring the hum. Change them on the schedule the manufacturer gives, and write it down.
HSE's detailed guidance on LEV is HSG258, which SR13 points to for the legal and competence requirements. If your extraction has no user manual or log book, the sheet suggests you may need a competent person to determine the performance it should deliver.
Where does Ravair fit in?
We supply the equipment: desktop and wall-mounted monomer and fume extractors, in-desk and flexible-arm dust extractors, and the activated carbon and particulate filters that keep them working. Ravair has been developing practical clean-air and energy products in the UK since 2015, and our extraction units are installed in schools and gyms in East Sussex as well as salons. Our approach is to give honest advice about which unit suits a room rather than sell a machine that is not suitable.
What we do not do is carry out your COSHH assessment, your LEV thorough examination or your health surveillance; those sit with the salon owner and the competent or occupational health professionals HSE describes. Read the plain-English COSHH guide for how the assessment works, and whether extraction is legally required for the direct question.
Frequently asked questions
Is nail dust dangerous to breathe?
HSE's nail bar sheet says filing dust "can cause respiratory problems such as wheezing, chest tightness and asthma." It is produced at face height during every enhancement, which is why HSE asks for extraction at the table rather than relying on a mask or an open window.
Do nail technicians need to wear masks?
HSE sheet SR13 says respiratory protective equipment "is not normally needed" where the extraction and ventilation controls it describes are in place, and that face coverings are "not acceptable as a control measure." The control is meant to be the equipment, not the mask.
What is a downdraught table?
A downdraught table is a nail desk with an extraction grille built into the work surface, so the client's hands rest over it and dust is drawn downwards as it is created. HSE names it, alongside a movable hood, as the form of local exhaust ventilation suited to nail bars.
How often should salon extraction be serviced?
Filters are changed on the manufacturer's schedule and checked before work each day. Separately, HSE says LEV needs a statutory thorough examination and test by a competent person at least once every 14 months, with records kept for at least five years.
Can a room air purifier replace extraction at the desk?
Not on HSE's guidance. General ventilation supports extraction but the first control it names is local exhaust ventilation - a downdraught table or hood - because dust that has crossed the room has already passed the technician's face.
This article is general guidance, not health and safety, medical or legal advice. UK regulations and HSE guidance can change; check the current HSE guidance and take advice from a competent person on your own premises.
See the range of fume and monomer extractors we supply, or call 01892 750777 and tell us about your room; we will say what suits it and what does not.
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