Nail polish is popular, but often contains harmful ingredients. The bright colors are often based on synthetically produced dyes that bring health risks. That is why some manufacturers advertise their products as an eco-nail polish and promise that they are free of harmful ingredients. But how “eco” are these nail polishes really?
Bright sun yellow, glittering violet and gentle pastel tones: Colorful nail polishes are a popular accessory for many people. However, the bright colors often consist of harmful ingredients. Solvent, plasticizers that are supposed to prevent the color from breaking and leaving, UV filters that are supposed to protect against color loss when storing-all of these synthetic substances are contained in nail polish. Some of these chemical compounds can potentially be harmful to health; Some are even considered carcinogenic.
In the past, it was believed that nails were impenetrable and therefore do not absorb these harmful substances. Nowadays, however, we know that pollutants can get into the body from the color layer on the nails or skin. In addition, the sometimes toxic vapors are inhaled when nail paint.
“3-free”, “5-free”: that is behind it
In response to concerned buyers, numerous natural cosmetics manufacturers are now promoting natural or ecological nail polishes. Designations such as “3-Free”, “5-Free” and similar formulations stand for nail polishes that are said to be free of certain harmful substances. With “3-Free” nail polishes, it is usually pointed out that they do not contain a phthalate, formaldehyde or toluol-three chemical compounds that are demonstrably harmful to the environment and harm. “5-free” paints go one step further and also exclude campers (colloquially camphor), formaldehyde resin or colophone.
However, terms such as “3-Free” or “5-Free” are not standardized. Each manufacturer decides which ingredients he excludes. Phthalat soft makers, for example, have been banned in nail polishes since 2020 because they have been classified as dangerous to reproduce. Nevertheless, manufacturers continue to advertise that the hormone -changing plasticizers are not available in their nail polishes. Instead of phthalate soft maker, replacement soft makers are now being used-whose health effect is usually not yet clarified according to the ÖKO-Test.
That is why it is important to take a close look at the list of ingredients even with the “ÖKO” nail polishes if you want to protect yourself from certain fabrics. Some “Free” names also refer to the avoidance of animal experiments or animal components-the nail polishes are vegan. But that says nothing about their tolerance. Labels such as “20-Free” can also be particularly misleading: they advertise the nail polish as particularly harmless, but often also call gluten or other components in their avoidance list that have no place in the product anyway.
Eco seals are not a guarantee of harmlessness
Natural or biocosmetics have not yet been legally protected in Germany. This means that there are no uniform requirements that would guarantee that products with these names comply with certain standards. Natural cosmetics seals can offer an orientation here, but you should be careful: some nail polish recipes are largely made of alcohol like ethanol. For example, a Demeter certificate only shows that the alcohol-containing components meet the requirements of the Demeter standard. But that says nothing about the production of the remaining ingredients in nail polish or their harmlessness.
For safety, check ingredients yourself
Basically, ecological nail polishes often use better recipes than conventional products and usually also do without harmful chemicals. Nevertheless, it should be noted: it is currently not possible to produce nail polish from exclusively natural products – ecological variants also contain synthetic substances and can be harmful to health. If you want to be on the safe side when buying nail polish, you should not blindly rely on general “3-free” names, but must check the ingredients yourself. Apps such as Code Check or Toxfox from the Environmental Organization Bund can also help. They specifically indicate pollutants and environmentally harmful components when app users scan the barcode of their nail polish.