What the Heck is Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) anyway?

Often when asked, a nail or beauty technician will tell you that they don't use the product because it's toxic. If that were true, then why was it used as a human bone repair cement in surgery?Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) was commonly used in the nail industry until it's use was banned it in the late 1970's. Many rumours have come about due to lack of knowledge on this topic. Often when asked, a nail or beauty technician will tell you that they don't use the product because it's toxic. The truth is that, while MMA should not be ingested (much like many chemicals we use externally every day,) it does not absorb through the nail plate, is not dangerous to inhale in a normal salon enviroment, and is not a cancer-causing agent! In fact, for many years MMA was used as a human bone repair cement in surgery. However, this does not condone it's use in the nail industry, and here's why:

1. MMA doesn't hold very well to the nail plate. This is why old-school nail technicians tend to over-file the nail plate, as they used to roughen it up in order to get the product to adhere. This of course thins the nail plate and makes it much weaker.


2. MMA becomes very hard, and hence when the nail is caught or jammed, rather than the extension breaking, the weakened nail plate breaks underneath it, causing serious nail damage.


3. MMA is very difficult to remove, as there are no solvents for it. Hence another bad habit some technicians have of prying off the extension was born, which of course can be very damaging.


4. Because of so many complaints caused from above, many regulating authorities have banned its use.

MMA was simply an inappropriate product for nails, and it was removed because of this. It had very little to do with it's toxicity. In fact, as explained earlier, it has been widely used in the medical field.