Research Article Determinants of Exposures to Hazardous Materials among Nail Cosmeticians in the Kampala City, Uganda John C. Ssempebwa , Rawlance Ndejjo , Ruth Mubeezi Neebye, Edwinah Atusingwize, and Geofrey Musinguzi Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda Correspondence should be addressed to John C. Ssempebwa; jssemps@musph.ac.ug Received 29 November 2018; Revised 30 January 2019; Accepted 13 February 2019; Published 1 April 2019 Academic Editor: Pam R. Factor-Litvak Copyright © 2019 John C. Ssempebwa et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Globally, nail salons represent a fast expanding industry and often with low-income cosmeticians. In general, cosmeticians have limited access to safety information about the hazardous materials they handle, which would potentially enable them to minimize workplace exposures. e problem is much pronounced in low- and middle-income countries due to weaknesses in regulation of the industry. We investigated determinants of exposures to hazardous materials among nail cosmeticians in Kampala District, Uganda. We employed a cross-sectional study design among a random sample of 243 participants. e sociodemographic characteristics, education and training status, knowledge about routes of exposure to hazardous chemicals, and personal protective material use of cosmeticians were assessed through face-to-face interviews. Most cosmeticians were aged 18–34 years, and more males were engaged in this work than females. Also, 82.7% believed inhalation was the major exposure route for the chemicals they handled. Participants who had attained secondary-level education and above were over three times more likely to wear masks (AOR � 3.19, 95% CI 1.58–6.41) and gloves (AOR � 3.48, 95% CI 1.55–7.81) and over two times more likely to use aprons (AOR � 2.50, 95% CI 1.18–5.32). Participants who had ever received safety training on hazardous chemicals were more likely to wear all four personal protective equipment: masks (AOR � 3.21, 95% CI 1.61–6.42), gloves (AOR � 4.23, 95% CI 2.05–8.75), goggles (AOR � 4.14, 95% CI 1.25–13.65), and aprons (AOR � 2.73, 95% CI 1.25–5.96). Participants who had spent more than two years in the nail cosmetics business were more likely to wear masks (AOR � 3.37, 95% CI 1.64–6.95). With the increasing demand for nail cosmetics, and many people in urban areas of low-income countries engaging in this industry, there is need for training and better workplace policies to promote a healthier urban workforce dealing in cosmetics. 1. Introduction Beauty salons are workplaces where a number of activities including beauty treatments for skin, hair, and nails take place. Most of these activities particularly for nails involve the use of chemicals whose nature is often hazardous [1–3]. Nail cosmetics include the application of nail polish, arti- ficial nails, nail elongations, and other nail treatments as fashion trends may influence. e popularity of nail cos- metics is on the rise globally and especially in urban areas [2, 4–7], and with the increasing number of clients, beauty salon workers have a risk of increased and prolonged exposures to various hazardous materials in the workplace [8–10]. Many products are used during manicures and pedicures, and depending on the treatment being per- formed, exposure and health risks will vary amongst nail cosmeticians. Among them, the products used are enamel, adhesives, polishes, and polish removers [11, 12]. Nail enamel and polish removers are strong solvents, which are highly volatile [13, 14]. Exposure to such organic solvents can cause many problems including irritation to nose, throat, lung, skin, and eyes [15–17]; headaches; light- headedness; nausea; and confusion [18]. Nail polish may contain formaldehyde and some methacrylates which can Hindawi Journal of Environmental and Public Health Volume 2019, Article ID 1925863, 9 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/1925863