Had someone on a TPA-LGA clipping their nails a few months ago, next time I' m taking photos or video and posting it... Rude... FA looked but refrained from comment or action...

Did the person dispose of the clippings or just leave them scattered around the seating area?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BAG41O1CDD.DTL

I don't want that stuff circulating around an enclosed environment and having no choice but to breath it for hours. Most nail polish has those nasty chemicals in them.

Acetone (nail polish remover), while it smells worse, is not as toxic in the amounts normally used... however it is much more flammable. It may be considered a paint thinner, and therefore technically not allowed on board... however I'm sure if you have a 100mL bottle of it, you'd have no problem bringing it.

As this is not a DL-specific topic, I am moving the thread to TravelBuzz.
Obscure2k
Delta Moderator

I would have asked the manicurist to do mine !;)

Common courtesy happens to be exactly what people lack nowadays. Nothing like this will stop until and unless there's a class-action lawsuit. I'm delighted that my life doesn't require me to use public transport much anymore.

If she was using nail polish remover, often primarily acetone, one of the more highly flammable liquids, and easily ignited by a spark, she was certainly in violation of one or more TSA rules.

Remind me again why we're permitted matches and cigarette lighters on board?

Acetone is absolutely on the prohibited list. As a footnote, acetone caused one of the post-9/11 flight diversions. A passenger of UK and Pakistan heritage stored his carry-on in the overhead. His wife had spilled a bottle of polish remover (acetone) on the bag before he left (alone) for the airport, and an eagle-eyed (or perhaps eagle-nosed) FA detected the chemical smell during cruise. The flight (IIRC it was AA Antigua-BOS) was diverted to Norfolk. He was questioned and released, and the flight resumed to Boston.

One of the reasons that I think women feel it's OK to do their nails in flight is a Cosmopolitan magazine article about 12 years ago that recommended manicures as a good use of the "down time" on an airplane. I commented on that article here around 2000 or so, not sure if I can find that older thread.

I flew from FLL yesterday. Coulda been me. Actually not... I'm a guy but most likely still smelled of alcohol.

There is an acetone smell associated with nail polish as well as nail remover. It is such a dreadful poison that most people allow their 6 year old daughters to paint their nails. Some paint the nails of their babies and their pets.

Honestly, guys, I've encountered this hysteria about acetone before, and it really makes me wonder. You do realize that your baby daughter or sister paints her nails and didn't die, right, even with a 6 year old's relatively fragile immune system.

It's legal (and not child or pet abuse) because it's harmless. People who go bat-stuff crazy over any type of odor associated with a female or a child, I do worry about those people...

You are not allowed to stay in the lav for the amount of time required to brush your teeth, much less do a proper manicure.

FAs don't allow you to hog the lav on a flight. If your nails get chipped, on a plane, you don't have the normal option of excusing yourself. Disappearing into the lav for 15 minutes causes much issues and pounding on the door. You must do the repair work where you sit. So I vote get over it. If a plane was diverted in 911 hysteria over a spilled bottle of nail polish, who cares? You don't live your life trying to cater to every possible bit of stupidity that ever happened in the entire history of the world. It just isn't practical.

Actually, I quit doing my nails a long time ago but I am retired. Most women don't have that option. The woman on the plane probably had to hit the ground running and be at her best. Women are judged first, last, and always on their looks. She has to take care of herself. When you pay her bills, you can tell her to stop doing her nails. She needed to look good for whoever she was meeting. It ain't about you.

Tell that to the migraine I get when forced to breathe that junk in an enclosed space. This (and many other problems in life) have a simple solution- Common Courtesy!

Your parents didn't raise you with pigs, so don't act like one.
It's a public space. When your actions start infringing on MY body, then YOU need to stop. Period.

No kidding. I don't even believe I read that.

There's a second type of nail polish remover available that isn't acetone based.

How incredibly short sighted. I'm sure some six-year-old children also eat peanut butter. Therefore, by your logic, all children should be forced to endure someone grinding peanuts on a plane. That's legal too.

Obviously.

Please clarify this statement. Sounds like anyone who is offended or literally sickened by inhaling chemicals only feels this way because they hate women and children. Is this what you mean?

Wow.

Double wow.

Life is so unfair, that I'm going to do whatever I want. Never mind that I'm acting exactly like the people I'm complaining about. Screw anyone around me. :rolleyes:

Maybe the FA was the one I encountered on a BMI flight a few years back? Business class from LAS to MAN I wanted a drink & went to the galley to find the FA busy painting her nails. :confused:

Since this is legal, you must have some sort of problem with women. ;)

Well, one mustn't allow the discomfort of others to interfere with finishing one's "toilette". :rolleyes:

I'd be inclined to contact the airline since the flight attendant was asked to intervene and it sounds as if it was not handled well –.even if the decision was not to intervene.

That is ridiculous. I can assure you, as a woman who travels extensively and also takes great care with her hair, nails, makeup, and clothing, I have NEVER let myself get into a situation where I had to attend to my personal grooming on a plane. Deal with it on the ground.

Nail polish and nail polish remover may not be hazardous, but they stink. And in an enclosed space people have no option to avoid that stink. What that woman did was inconsiderate and obnoxious. The flight attendant should have put a stop to it.

That isn't true (there are strong "physical" reasons for migrainous reactions in some cases) –.and even if it were true, I'm not sure why it's relevant.

Although the smell is not harmful but in some places it creates bad impression and considered as bad attitude like while flying, if anyone begin to do so. Some people feels its smell good but only when they are doing it at home. It seems to be awkward when you see a person removing nails on a public place or while traveling. Somethings are to be done personally not publically.

Because acetone is a far more dangerous material than either, aside from the potentially dangerous but modest "flamethrower" effect that can be achieved with a little mechanical finagling with a butane lighter. Give me a few ounces of acetone, and either matches, a lighter, or any spark source (any of a couple of dozen popular battery powered devices), and I can create for you a brief, nasty and dangerous fire likely to cause injuries and absolute panic aboard an a/c. The same combinations are likewise capable of accidentally producing similar results.

As noted by another poster and earlier suggested by me, Acetone may actually be on the TSA's prohibited list.

I'm not sure how old you are but I can assure you, as a woman, I most certainly have the option of not doing my nails. And I don't about 80% of the time. It's this type of attitude that makes women look like dimwits.

Quite! I just left the office where I have been in meetings etc and guess what - no nail polish! And, quelle horreur, I am NOT WEARING MAKE UP!!!! And for that matter my hair dried on the way to work this morning, so no fancy blow dry either.

Guess my clients / colleagues care far more about my work than me doing Barbie impressions. There is no need (catwalk model, tv presenters aside) to wear make up, nail polish etc to do a good job and be respected for it.

I've also never had a problem bushing my teeth on a plane (and cleansing, toning and moisturizing, and putting on my PJs) nor did I have an issue spending over 45 minutes in the loo when I was I'll one flight. No one knocked on the door. No FA told me it caused an issue or 'pounded' for me to get out. There were other loos, there were no issues.

ATSDR ToxFaqs entry for acetone:

There is no time limit for anybody in a lav, that's just silly.