6 Non-Toxic Nail Polish Brands

If you are expecting and rarely seen without freshly painted nails you may want to consider non-toxic nail polish and review a study where popular brands were tested for toxic chemicals.

Did you know that most drugstore brands have formaldehyde, triphenyl phosphate or other dangerous toxic chemicals and exposure is probably not good in pregnancy?

Triphenyl Phosphate (or TPHP) is known to be a hormone disruptor of the endocrine system. The endocrine system controls all of the hormones in the human body which makes it dangerous to a developing fetus.  Triphenyl phosphate is commonly used to make plastics and as a fire retardant in foam furniture.

In the study, 25 women were tested 10 to 14 hours after applying popular name brand nail polish.  All of the women tested positive for triphenyl phosphate, revealing it in their system through a urine test.  While non of the women in the study were pregnant, this is alarming. One shocking tidbit was that out of ten polishes that were tested for triphenyl phosphate, 8 tested positive with two not disclosing the chemical on it’s label.

Formaldahide is also commonly found in nail polish and according to the CDC known to cause cancer, “The higher the level and the longer the exposure, the greater the chance of getting cancer. Exposure to formaldehyde might increase the chance of getting cancer even at levels too low to cause symptoms.”

For those with young daughters who use nail polish, you may want to consider a healthier alternative to drugstore brands. Because some of the mentioned toxic chemicals are hormone disruptors, they can mess with hormone regulation or worse.  I think it’s fair to say that these chemicals are especially harmful to children and pregnant women and should be avoided.

Also see, How Nails Change in Pregnancy.

The great news is that there is non-toxic nail polish available that do not have these chemicals in them. Toxin free brands are more expensive than the drugstore polish but you might find it’s worth it to spend a few extra dollars for a healthier alternative. Here are a few that claim to be toxin free:

Non-Toxic Nail Polish

1. Honeybee Gardens is water-based, toxin free and vegan and can be removed with rubbing alcohol. Impressive.
2. Acquarella is water based and toxin free with a nice selection of colors.
3. Peacekeeper Cause-Metics This polish is toxin free and has a nice selection of polishes perfect for summer. It is infused with argan oil, one of my favorite agents for nurturing the skin and nails. We found these were sold out at the time of checking.
4. Scotch Naturals is favored by some bloggers.
5. Piggy Paint is one of the cheaper brands of the toxin-free polishes.
6. Suncoat doesn’t seem as durable as some of the others since it is made to peel.

We also found this list of popular drugstore brands that contain some of these chemicals,  http://www.ewg.org/research/nailed.