Walking into the Isabella Nail Bar in Oakland, CA, on a rainy spring morning, I notice a remarkable difference between this salon and others I’ve visited.

No bad nail salon smell. Uyen Nguyen opened her shop in 2008, and it’s one of a number of eco-friendly nail salons popping up around the country. There’s no national data on how many green salons exist — in large part because there’s no green certification for this type of business. Self-identified green salons such as Nguyen’s might include bamboo floors, less-toxic nail polish and a living wage for employees.

Thank you for your participation in our Nail Salon Chemical Hazard Assessment Project. Included in this report are the results of the air sampling done at your facility on April 7, 2010. more >>