Experts Question Use of Disinfectants

For decades, alcohol was a primary weapon in the beauty industry’s arsenal of disinfectants. But today, experts question alcohol’s ability to kill as a new breed of disease threatens.

In recent years, some beauty shops in California and elsewhere have voluntarily begun using more sophisticated weapons against the threat of such blood-borne diseases as herpes, hepatitis B and the AIDS virus. But alcohol, along with a scrubbing of sharp instruments, remains the only state-mandated disinfection process for the beauty care industry in California.

“Alcohol has been in the cosmetology books for 50 years now, but it’s not medically acceptable,” says Denise Andresen, vice president of the National Nail Technicians Group, which is lobbying for closer monitoring by both the industry and health departments.

Some states do not recognize alcohol as a proper protective measure. But in California, the Board of Cosmetology says that alcohol kills the AIDS virus and points to the Centers for Disease Control as its source. (CDC officials point to their guidelines when asked about alcohol and the AIDS virus; the guidelines call for “disinfection” of all sharp tools, but do not define what disinfectants are to be used.)

While there are no documented cases of anyone contracting the AIDS virus or hepatitis B from a manicure or pedicure, health officials agree that the risk exists. To address it, the state Board of Cosmetology three years ago adopted disinfection rules for all nail, hair and electrolysis salons.

These regulations require a soap-and-water scrubbing of sharp instruments, followed by a 10-minute immersion in 70% isopropyl alcohol. After such treatment, the AIDS virus is “deader than a doornail,” says Jeff Weir of the cosmetology board.

Maybe not, say some medical experts. “I don’t want to alarm people unnecessarily,” says Dr. Ronald Mitsuyasu, director of UCLA’s AIDS Clinical Research Center, “but we cannot be certain there is no risk of transmission using that method.”

While there is uncertainty about alcohol, most experts agree that high-heat, high-pressure sterilization does kill the virus.

Some nail salons do more than what the state requires. Manicurists may use “quats” (quaternary ammonium compound) disinfectants designed to kill most strains of virus, fungus and bacteria; others add a rinse of household bleach. Both steps can destroy HIV and other viruses, experts say.

But manicurists using only alcohol immersion--or worse, rubbing alcohol-moistened cotton balls over the instruments--are not providing complete protection.

“Soaking in an alcohol solution is not sufficient,” says Dr. Richard Scher, a New York nail specialist who tells patients to take their own manicure tools to the salon.

The December NAILS magazine devotes four stories to making salons “AIDS-safe.” Writers outlined the need for better understanding of the differences between disinfection and sterilization. (Disinfection eliminates most microorganisms; sterilization eliminates all of them, including viruses.)

While it is not required, the magazine suggests that “very conscientious salons may want to sterilize for their own piece of mind.”

The AIDS virus cannot survive long outside the body--after one hour, 90% of it is dead. Hepatitis B, however, is a very hardy virus that can survive up to two weeks in a bit of dried blood on the blade of a nail scissors, according to Dr. Carmen Deseda, a CDC epidemiologist.