I read this topic and shook my head, thinking it was a rare occurance - no such luck! It must be an epidemic; I flew from YUL to LAX this morning and the woman across the aisle from me started applying nail polish about an hour into the flight. She put it away before the flight attendents saw her, but they very quickly made a pointed announcement asking all passengers to refrain from using nail polish during the flight. She never took it out again.

I just can't believe anyone would think that this is acceptable!

That is so wrong! Skanky!

I've only encountered nail polish once, when a very nice young girl sitting next to me opened a bottle. I immediately grabbed her hand and said (as quietly as I could manage in my rather panicked state) that if she didn't close it immediately I would vomit. She complied, then looked at me as if I were mad. I explained about the solvents, the lower air pressure, the recirculation, and the relative commonness of serious sensitivities to nail polish, perfume, etc. I apologized for my abrupt action. She thanked me for letting her know that it was a problem (and for not throwing up), and promised never to do it again.

Obviously, those of us with serious allergies and sensitivities need to take precautions (i.e.: EpiPens). I find it odd, though, that anyone would think that applying nail polish in an airplane cabin was acceptable. Maybe women get desensitized to it. The only time I ever set foot in a nail salon (their mail had been delivered to my office by mistake) I felt like I'd stepped onto the surface of another planet without a space suit. Even though I was there for only a few seconds, I was ill for days.

This reminds me of an old thread about weird seatmates. My favorite was a post by someone whose seatmate would pull hairs off his head and eat them, one at a time.

^^^

Yes, absolutely. As an asthmatic and severe nut allergy sufferer, I do what I need to do to make sure I am safe. I check what's in my meals. I bring my own if I'm not sure. If someone was making me sick I would tell them so.

Now if only the airlines weren't so difficult about the carriage of epipens. Most are fine but I had all sorts of drama in Hong Kong, and Virgin Blue requires 'special medical approval'. I refuse to fly with them. :mad:

Funny you mention that. I remember reading something, not very long ago, about a woman who ate her hair out of habit. It eventually killed her at an early age (20's? 30's?) as the hair slowly accumulated in her digestive tract. I can't remember the exact medical cause of her death, but it was attributed to years of hair-eating.