Sungleska posted to the http://www.beautytech.com/forums a very important question:

I am a nail tech of 37 years and a disturbing rumor is spreading throughout my home town of Ocala, Florida.

I have heard from Nail customers, especially those in the food industry, that they are no longer permitted to wear acrylic nails...they must be gel or nothing at all. They said that the reason is that acrylic nails harbor more bacteria than gels, and gel nails are much thinner in nature, making it easier to work.

I personally passed this post to Doug Schoon of Schoon Scientific, an expert in all things nails and chemistry who responded:

Hi Sungleska,
I understand your situation and frustration.
 
Here are the facts from my point of view.
 
Some hospitals and companies that handle food have told employees not to wear artificial nails. This came about after the Center for Disease Control (CDC) developed a "hand-washing guidance" for hospital professionals.
Here's the problem they are trying to address - doctors and nurses don't wash their hands enough and when they do they don't wash them properly.
 
For many years, this has caused huge problems in the medical community and this failure often leads to infections that are acquired in the hospital. In other words, a person goes to the hospital and end's up catching another disease while in the hospital, oftentimes because the nurses, technicians and doctors did not properly wash their hands. It happens way too often and the CDC is extremely concerned. These are called "nosocomial infections (pronounced, nos-uh-KOH-mee-uhl)"
 
The CDC identified artificial nails and cracked nail polish as potential sources of contamination, but they've also identified a doctor's necktie as being a very likely cause of transmission of infectious organisms. They recommended that emergency room nurses and those working in critical care situations should not wear artificial nails, they should keep their natural nails short and manicured as well as, ensure their nail polish is properly maintained and not chipped or cracked. Doctors are still allowed to wear neckties, interestingly!
 
Kaiser Permanente went ballistic and ordered everyone in the hospital to take off their artificial nails or be fired, doctors neckties were of course spared.  To my knowledge, eliminating artificial nails from Kaiser Permanent they and other hospitals  has not had any effect on the rate of transmission of infectious organisms in hospitals, but it's probably made a lot of hospital administrators feel like they're doing something about the problem.
 
This is not about liquid and powder nails only. It's about all artificial nails. UV gels are made of acrylics just like liquid and powder they are just as much "acrylics nails" as any other type of artificial nail .  This issue affects all types of artificial nails and nail polish. There is absolutely no scientific evidence or other reason to believe that UV gels harbor more or fewer pathogens than any other type of artificial nail. If anyone says there's a difference, I'd like to see the evidence. I can't imagine how this could be possible.  Either your hands are dirty or they are not, either your nails are lifting or they are not.  Crack areas or areas of lifting are where the artificial nails can harbor bacteria. But, underneath the free edge of the natural nail is probably one of the most contaminated places on the outside of the body, so long natural nails present an increased risk if you don't properly wash your hands.
 
In my opinion, the problem isn't with artificial nails, the problem is that doctors and nurses do not consistently take the time to wash their hands properly. It takes 15 to 20 seconds to properly wash your hands.  Next time that you see a doctor or nurse wash their hands, watch how long it takes and you'll understand the problem. They need to wash their hands between each and every patient, but that's a lot of hand washing.  I understand why shortcuts are taken and I'm not faulting doctors and nurses who perform a valuable service, but I think it's very sad that artificial nails have been blamed for problems that are rarely caused by artificial nails.  The overwhelming majority of hospital acquired infections are not caused by artificial nails or nail polish.
 
Doug Schoon