nail polish remover

A nail polish remover basically dissolves or emulsifies the dried nail polish, allowing you to remove the old nail polish from your nails.

Most nail polish removers contain acetone. Lately, new acetone-free nail polish removers have showed up in the market.

So what is the problem with acetone?

Should you go for the acetone-free versions?

Cutex Quick & Gentle Nail Polish Remover, Instant
Cutex Quick & Gentle

Polish-Off Pen Pals Nail Corrector Pen
Polish-Off

Cutex Quick & Gentle Nail Polish Remover, Strengthening
Cutex Quick & Gentle

Rite Aid Regular Nail Polish Remover
Rite Aid

Cutex Quick & Gentle Nail Polish Remover, Strengthening
Cutex Quick & Gentle

In the first place, what is acetone?

According to wikipedia, acetone is a ketone. It is found in nature. Your body produces acetone when it metabolizes fat for energy.

I found an interesting article about acetone toxicity.

Basically, the acetone-free nail polish removers came into favour because acetone is an irritant. Apparently, inhaling acetone can damage the liver. Long term exposure to acetone can cause damage the kidney, liver, nerves and even increase the risk of birth defects.

Acetone is dangerous when inhaled, so when you use nail polish remover, leave the windows wide open for good ventilation and avoid inhaling the fumes of the nail polish remover.

Polish-Off Nail Polish Remover Pads, Non-Acetone
Polish-Off

Rite Aid Regular Nail Polish Remover
Rite Aid

e.l.f. professional Nail Polish Remover Pads
e.l.f. professional

Barielle Acetone-Free Nail Polish Remover
Barielle

Cutex Quick & Gentle Nail Polish Remover, Strengthening
Cutex Quick & Gentle

That brings us to the nail polish removers that do not contain acetone. One would expect these to be better for health than the acetone nail polish removers.

According to NCBI, a 15-month-old child went into a coma after sucking boots nail polish remover pads which are acetone-free.

It was the gamma butyrolactone in the acetone-free nail polish that poisoned the child.

Basically, keep nail polish remover out of reach of children. When removing nail polish, do it in a well ventilated place and never inhale the fumes. As long as you take precautions, you shouldn"t have problems with nail polish remover. If your acetone based remover irritates your skin, then switch to an acetone-free one. You"ll find them all here.