Is painting your nails affecting your health?
Are you a lover of nail varnish and hairspray to make sure your 'do stays in place? You could be at a higher risk of developing diabetes, according to new research.
A team from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston said they found a link between phthalates - a class of chemicals found in these products - and the metabolic disease.
Urine samples of 2,350 women were taken and found that those with higher levels of phthalates were more likely to have diabetes than those with low concentrations.
However lead researcher Dr Tamarra James-Todd, whose findings are published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, conceded that more research is needed.
She revealed: 'We know that in addition to being present in personal care products, phthalates also exist in certain types of medical devices and medication that is used to treat diabetes and this could also explain the higher level of phthalates in diabetic women.'
Women who had the highest levels of the chemicals mono-benzyl phthalate and mono-isobutyl phthalate had almost twice the risk of diabetes compared to women with the lowest levels of those chemicals.
Femalefirst Taryn Davies