Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the health of beauty salon workers through the utilization of questionnaires concerning the extent of exposure to organic solvents found in the air of some beauty salons and any resultant symptoms in employees. The subjects were 36 employees from 10 beauty salons who agreed to participate in this study. The degree of exposure to organic solvents in the air of beauty salons was measured from September 1, 2008 to September 30, 2008. A survey of symptoms that occurred due to exposure to these solvents was also performed. The results were as follows: questionnaires were collected and analyzed from a total of 36 subjects. Of these, 28(77.8%) were female and 8(22.2%) were male. The mean age was 29.08. The mean working period was 7.13 years. Sixteen subjects attended programs at universities while 11 went to beauty schools for vocational education. When testing the concentration of organic solvents in the air of beauty salons, the highest value found was Isopropyl alcohol 511.85 ppb followed by butyl acetate, toluene, acetone, xylene, ethyl benzene, styrene, and chlorobenzene. A logistic regression analysis was performed as follows: the point of each factor was the dependent variable while sex, age, drinking, smoking, educational level, work experience, hairdresser's license, and organic solvents were the independent variables. Statistically significant difference (p<0.05) was shown in the hairdresser's license among Factor 1 and in Xylene among Factor 2; however, difference was not shown in the other variables.