Evaluation of the Cytotoxicity of Commercially Available Nail Adhesives

: Nail tips are nail art materials that can be attached to the nail with adhesives. Recently, nail/finger injuries related to nail tips have been reported and one of the causes is considered to be the adhesives used for attaching nail tips. The components of nail adhesives are mostly cyanoacrylate, which is also used as an industrial instant adhesive. During curing, cyanoacrylate adhesives release formaldehyde through hydrolysis. When it is marketed as a nail adhesive, there is no regulation regarding its formaldehyde amount nor obligation to indicate its ingredients in Japan. Additionally, a biological safety test is not required for nail adhesives. Thus, because the safety of nail adhesives is inadequately confirmed, it is necessary to investigate their biological safety. Therefore, we purchased 5 commercially available nail adhesives and 1 medical adhesive and examined their formaldehyde content and cytotoxicity. We examined the cytotoxicity of the adhesives in V79 cells by a colony forming assay. In this test, 5 nail adhesives showed higher toxicity than 1 medical adhesive. Formaldehyde concentrations in the extract of adhesives were as follows: 17.5 to 24.2 μg/mL for nail adhesives and 7.4 μg/mL for medical adhesives. Cyanoacetate did not elicit cytotoxicity at the final concentration up to 1000 μM. However, formaldehyde showed cytotoxicity, with an IC50 of 79 μM (2.4 μg/mL). Taken together, the cytotoxicity of nail adhesives could be due to the formaldehyde generated by the hydrolysis of cyanoacrylate. It seems important that nail adhesives will be regulated by obligation and enhanced safety in the future.