Activists & Consumers Convince OPI to Polish its Act

It’s been a year since consumers and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics turned up the pressure on OPI, maker of the ubiquitous salon brand of nail polishes and treatments, to remove chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and infertility. With protests, letters, calls, meetings and an ad campaign, we convinced the company to dump dibutyl phthalate (DBP) in August 2006, and now comes word that they will also take toluene out.

In a letter to Campaign partner Women’s Voices for the Earth, dated March 15, 2007, OPI COO Eric Schwartz outlined the company’s plan to remove toluene from its entire product line. He added, “rather than getting mired in the question of whether the old formulas were safe, I’m sure you will agree it is more important to focus on the future, which looks bright.” (To read the letters exchanged between WVE and OPI, visit WVE’s Web site.)

We’re now a far cry from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics’ initial meeting with OPI execs in March 2006. At that meeting, OPI flatly refused to remove three top-level ingredients of concern: DBP, toluene and formaldehyde. The company still uses formaldehyde in some of its nail hardeners, saying that OPI does “continue to search for efficacious alternatives to formaldehyde in hardeners.”

Tell OPI thanks, and get rid of the formaldehyde, already! »

OPI’s reformulation news is a victory not only for consumers, but also for the salon workers exposed to nail polish chemicals every day. A new report from Women’s Voices for the Earth, “Glossed Over: Health Hazards Associated with Toxic Exposure in Nail Salons,” reveals that chemicals commonly found in nail care and cosmetic products in nail salons are hazardous to health, especially for the largely Vietnamese nail salon worker population.