Do Vietnamese nail salon workers have workplace exposures to organic solvents that exceed health-based standards?
Measured levels of exposures that are higher than the recommended levels by regulatory agencies would inform future health interventions, health policy and future research focusing on this workforce. To address the first question, we will link the California cosmetology licensee file to the California Cancer Registry file to estimate breast cancer rates in this workforce compared to the general population. Since all nail salon workers are required to be licensed by the state, we will be able to examine the breast cancer experience for the entire California workforce. Similarly, we will compare rates between Vietnamese nail salon workers and the California Vietnamese population; this restricted analysis will allow us take into account other factors (e.g. homeland exposures) that may influence breast cancer risk in this subpopulation. To address the second question, we will recruit 80 Vietnamese nail salon workers in the greater San Francisco Bay Area to wear a small personal air-monitor
