How can nail techs prevent gel and acrylic allergies?

Why gel and acrylic cause allergies

Acrylic liquid and powder, hard gel, builder gel and gel polish all harden thanks to the same family of chemicals, the (meth)acrylates. The British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) calls them the key ingredients in acrylic nails, gel nails and gel polish nails. Once a product has fully set, most of that chemistry is locked into a polymer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration notes that the polymers themselves are typically quite safe, but that traces of methacrylate monomers remain after artificial nails are formed and could cause an adverse reaction, which is why it says contact with the skin should be avoided.

The trouble starts with uncured product on skin. In its 2023 statement BAD put it plainly: it is when the uncured products come into contact with any part of the skin that sensitisation to the chemicals can occur. The European Commission's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety reached a similar view about HEMA and di-HEMA TMHDC, two methacrylates used in nail products. Applied to the nail plate only, with contact with the adjacent skin avoided, they are not likely to pose a risk of sensitisation. Misuse, poor application, or accidental contamination of the skin next to the nail is where the risk lies.

It is not a rare problem. BAD's 2018 warning was based on an audit of 4,931 patients tested at 13 UK and Irish dermatology units in 2017: 2.4 percent tested positive to at least one (meth)acrylate, and 1.5 percent to HEMA alone. A study from Amsterdam University Medical Centers, published in Contact Dermatitis in 2024, found 67 patients diagnosed with allergic contact dermatitis from nail cosmetics between 2015 and 2023. Ninety-seven percent of them reacted to HEMA, and 18 of the 67 were professional nail stylists.

What a reaction can look like

BAD describes reactions that may involve the nails loosening, or a severe red, itchy rash, not just on the fingertips but potentially anywhere on the body that has come into contact with the nails, including the eyelids, face and neck. In the Amsterdam study the fingers were affected in 79 percent of patients and the hands in 40 percent, with the head and neck next. A Cleveland Clinic dermatologist, Dr. Amy Kassouf, points out that the eyelids may be the first place a reaction shows, because they are the thinnest skin on the body. DermNet, the dermatology reference site, describes the rash as usually confined to the area of contact, with itching, burning, scaling, hives or blistering.

An acrylate allergy does not stay at the nail desk. BAD notes that the same or very similar methacrylates are used in white dental fillings, enamel tooth coatings, orthopaedic bone cement, diabetic glucose sensors and insulin pumps, and its 2018 warning said the allergy can have lifelong consequences for dental treatments and surgeries.

None of this is something a nail tech can confirm at the table. According to DermNet, acrylate allergy is diagnosed with patch tests, which is a job for a dermatologist.

Protect your own hands first

Techs handle uncured product all day, and BAD says nail technicians are particularly at risk. The Amsterdam numbers bear that out: more than a quarter of the patients diagnosed there were nail professionals.

Glove choice matters more than most people expect. BAD says latex and vinyl (PVC) gloves provide no protection from these chemicals, which will penetrate them immediately. DermNet adds that methyl methacrylate crosses latex and vinyl gloves within minutes and that nitrile gloves are more protective. BAD's recommendation for technicians is nitrile gloves, changed every 30 minutes and removed with a no-touch technique so the outside of the glove never meets bare skin.

The rest is housekeeping. The FDA advises good ventilation when using nail products and reading labels and warnings carefully. In the European Union, nail products containing HEMA or di-HEMA trimethylhexyl dicarbamate have been restricted to professional use since 2021 and must carry the warnings "For professional use only" and "Can cause an allergic reaction" under Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/1682. A bottle with that label is telling you which products on your shelf need the most care.

Protect the client during the service

The same rule applies on the other side of the table: keep the product on the nail plate. Flooding the cuticle or the side walls puts uncured product on exactly the skin the European committee said should not be touched. If product does reach the skin, clean it off before the hand goes under the lamp.

Cure completely. BAD warns that if the product isn't cured sufficiently, the risk of developing an allergy goes up. Its advice to people using home kits is to always use the recommended lamp for curing and not to use that lamp with other polishes bought separately. The same reasoning applies in a salon: each system should be cured with the lamp and the times its manufacturer specifies.

Ask before you start. The American Academy of Dermatology tells clients to know what products are used in their artificial nails, because the substances can cause an allergic reaction in some people. Asking about past reactions at the first appointment, and being able to say which products went on which nails, is the professional side of that same advice.

Common mistakes

Trusting latex or vinyl gloves. BAD says they give no protection against these chemicals. Nitrile is the recommendation.

Wearing one pair of gloves all day. BAD's advice is to replace nitrile gloves every 30 minutes and take them off without touching the outside.

Mixing lamps and gels from different systems. Under-curing raises the allergy risk, and a lamp that is not the one recommended for a product may not cure it fully.

Treating a rash as a one-off. A client whose fingertips or eyelids flared after a set should see a doctor before the next one, not simply switch colors. In the Amsterdam study, avoiding contact with acrylate-containing products cleared the dermatitis completely in 80 percent of patients.

Write down what went on each nail

When a reaction does happen, the useful question is what touched the skin. A list of the base, builder, color and top coat used at each visit, together with anything the client said about allergies, turns "I think it was the new gel" into something you can actually check.

NailCarte, a client card app for independent nail techs, keeps an allergy note near the top of each client's card, records the product used on every nail of a service, and stores the allergy and consent form the client signed as a PDF on the same card.

This guide is general information for nail professionals, not medical advice. A client or technician with a suspected reaction should see a doctor or dermatologist; acrylate allergy is diagnosed with patch testing.

Frequently asked questions