The Perils of Pedicure: Health Officials Warn of Unclean Foot Baths

With the arrival of sandal season and the rush to get pedicures, state health officials are warning women about a new danger at nail salons: a bacteria that can cause boils and skin ulcers. A recent survey indicated that M. fortuitum bacteria could be growing in as many as 89% of foot baths in the state’s 36,725 salons.

The survey by the state Bureau of Barbering and Cosmetology followed an outbreak last year at the Fancy Nails salon in Watsonville. A dermatologist reported to health officials that several of his patients had developed infections between 10 days and four months after receiving pedicures at the same salon. Tests by the Santa Cruz County Health Department and California Department of Health Services determined that the bacteria that caused the infections came from the inlet suction screens of the salon’s whirlpool foot spas.

Some 110 women and men infected with the fast-growing cousin of the tuberculosis bacterium took antibiotics for months, and even that did not clear up infections and in all cases. Others suffered scarring or have needed skin grafts, Dr. Kevin L. Winthrop, the epidemiologist who led the investigation, told a scientific meeting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta last week.

Infected customers typically began their $15 pedicures by soaking their feet and calves for 10 to 15 minutes. Those who had shaved their legs before the pedicure showed increased risk of infection. The salon was closed Oct. 12, 2000, and subsequently sold.

According to Winthrop, the salon owner said he had never cleaned or disinfected his machines in the year they had been operating, and studies showed that the bacteria had built up behind screens blocked by hair, grease and clipped nails.

Another case is currently being investigated in San Diego. Although the state Department of Consumer Affairs already has regulations in place to cover the disinfection of machinery in spas, new procedures that specifically address foot spas are being developed in response to these cases, said Barbering and Cosmetology bureau spokesman Rick Lopes. The new regulations should be in effect in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, he advises consumers to insist that, in between customers, foot spas are drained, cleaned with soap or detergent, rinsed with clean, clear water and disinfected with an EPA-registered disinfectant with demonstrated bactericidal, fungicidal, and virucidal activity. Report violations to (800) 952-5210 or https://www.dca.ca.gov.

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In Hollywood, labor strikes may come and go, but the studio exec dress code doesn’t change. Arriving for negotiations with the Writers Guild Wednesday, Universal Pictures Chairman Stacey Snider epitomized the time-honored uniform in a black pantsuit, casual chic T-shirt, Hermes belt, designer handbag and sunglasses.

The writer dress code is considerably less expensive.

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Women wanting to combine tummy and leg control with the barefoot look have been cutting the feet off their pantyhose for years, but Sara Blakely, 30, decided to make a business out of it. Spanx, her new line of footless stockings, has been flying out of stores all over the country.

The former sales trainer for an office equipment store in Atlanta had zero retail experience when she came up with the idea a year ago. The hardest part? Convincing a textile mill to make samples. “Most of the mill owners were men and they thought the idea didn’t make sense,” she said.

Eventually, Blakely found a taker, and invested $5,000 of her own money to make a few hundred pairs of stockings. Next came cold calls to department stores. Within two weeks of showing Spanx to Neiman Marcus last September, the hosiery was for sale in nude and black, for $20. To date, more than 50,000 pairs have been sold.