NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters Life!) - A visit to a nail salon is usually a relaxing, pampering event for a woman but for salon workers it can be a health hazard, according to a new study.

With the nail salon industry recognized as one of the fastest growing U.S. businesses, the Northern California Cancer Center and the Asian Health Services of Oakland looked at Vietnamese nail salon workers handling many potentially harmful compounds.

Researchers said the majority of California's 35,000 or so salons were owned or operated by Vietnamese women who made their living giving manicures and pedicures, working long hours for low wages, with English usually their second language.

A survey of 201 nail salon workers from 74 salons found many workers were concerned about their health and suffered from acute health effects associated with the chemicals used at work.

"A majority of the workers reported health concerns from exposures to workplace chemicals," said Dung Nguyen of Asian Health Services in a statement.

"Many of them reported having some health problem after they began working in the industry, particularly skin and eye irritation, breathing difficulties and headaches."

Thu Quach, of the Northern California Cancer Center, said the survey was one of the first to focus on these workers and was part of a pilot project designed to inform Vietnamese nail salon workers in Alameda County, California about health interventions and to reduce occupational exposures.

"Nail care workers routinely handle products containing many potentially harmful compounds, some of which are carcinogens or have endocrine disrupting effects, yet are virtually unregulated," he said in a statement.

"Nail salon workers are likely to have higher exposures to these compounds than the customers they serve."

The researchers, whose study is due to be published in the Journal of Community Health, said the findings highlighted a critical need for further investigation. (Writing by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Patricia Reaney)

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