Can nail polish cause onychomycosis?

Nail polish generally does not cause diseases such as onychomycosis, because onychomycosis is caused by fungal infection. However, nail polish contains chemical ingredients. If you often use inferior nail polish, it will damage the nails and reduce their resistance, so it is easy to cause infection. We should also pay attention to personal hygiene, wash our hands and feet frequently, and change our socks every day to avoid diseases such as onychomycosis to the greatest extent.

Nails are made up of several parts. Usually, when we refer to "nails", we are referring to the hard nail plate. The epidermal cells (dead) in the nail bed are constantly pushed out by the cells behind them, forming a layered leaf-like structure, which is the nail plate. The composition of the nail plate is the same as that of epidermal cells, which is still keratin[1]. Keratin is a very tough substance that can form a very hard structure that covers and protects the delicate tissue underneath like armor. What's more amazing is that it is neither soluble in water nor in oil; if it were thicker, it would be difficult for solvent molecules to sneak through the gaps. It can be said that organic solvents such as ethyl acetate have no effect on nails.

In addition to solvents, nail polish also contains film-forming agents, plasticizers, pigments and other ingredients. Keratin will not dissolve in or be damaged by these ingredients. From this we can see that "nail polish can corrode foam plastic and can therefore corrode nails" is complete nonsense.

If you use nail polish correctly, you don't have to worry about its safety, even though it may contain toxic substances such as ethyl acetate and toluene. But because under normal circumstances, the amount used each time is small and it is not used very frequently, it will not cause harm to the human body. Of course, major manufacturers are also trying their best to develop safer products, such as 3F (3free) products, which are formaldehyde-free, toluene-free, and phthalate-free.