What is that? Smells like a turd covered in burnt hair.

May 6, 2009 5:18 PM

The salon next door is leaking fumes into my projection booth. Am I going to die?

Our new theater is located right next door to a high-end salon, and I'm fairly certain that our exhaust fans use the same vent escape. At various times throughout the day, the projection booth will smell like hairspray, perm solution, hair dye, or fart.

I'm assuming these aren't the most toxic fumes in the world, or else there would be a lot more dead stylists, but it's still slightly concerning. After a particularly long shift, I sometimes feel light-headed and my lungs feel cold. On the plus side, the fumes have really opened my sinuses.

I've contacted our landlord, but they haven't remedied the problem yet. Don't worry, I'll keep on them until it's fixed, but in the meantime, how harmful is it to breath in the refuse fumes of a salon for 8 to 10 hours a day?

posted by bjork24 to grab bag (3 comments total)

I found the question intriguing so after a bit of googling all I know for sure is that it should be harmful, there are very few studies to confirm this, there is a reported increase in cancer among stylists ( I could not find data to back it up) hair salons are not a good environment for pet "love birds" and you should avoid a bikini wax--I will be interested to see if any one finds hard data. Keep working on it and insist on an air purifier
posted by rmhsinc at 6:59 PM on May 6

Are you going to get pregnant?

According to researchers at Imperial College in London and the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona, Spain, and published in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal, hairspray could have a significant impact on their son's penis. The researchers say male children could be subject to a birth defect known as hypospadias. Women exposed to hairspray in their first trimester of pregnancy increase the risk of their son having the defect by two to three times. Women exposed to heavy amounts of hairspray, such as those who work in salons, beauty parlors, or for hairspray manufacturers are particularly at risk.

Hypospadias is a birth defect of the urethra that involves an abnormally placed urinary opening. Instead of opening at the tip of the glans of the penis, a hypospadic urethra opens anywhere along a line running from the tip along the underside of the shaft to the junction of the penis and the scrotum.

posted by NortonDC at 7:31 PM on May 6

Yes, you will die. I can absolutely guarantee that. However, the hairspray fumes make it more likely that your death will be due to respiratory problems due to the inhalation of hairspray and other cosmetics fumes (basically, you could be working in a hairspray factory at this point, and your exposure wouldn't be much different). You can search Google Scholar and Pubmed.gov, particularly occupational health and cosmetics journals, for more specific data.

Also, this is not a good environment for women of reproductive age if there is any chance that they might become pregnant: inhalation of perfume/cosmetics/etc. by pregnant women has been shown to lead to abnormal reproductive systems in their infants. Again, Google to the rescue if you need to see the study.
posted by halogen at 7:43 PM on May 6