2.3 Prohibited Items & Practices (K.A.R. 28-24-14)

Quick Answer: K.A.R. 28-24-14 bans eight things in every Kansas establishment and school: (1) smoking or preparing food in the service area; (2) neck dusters and nail dusters; (3) animals, except assistance dogs; (4) razor-type devices that remove calluses or skin blemishes, such as the Credo blade; (5) invasive skin removal deeper than the stratum corneum; (6) open waste receptacles; (7) methyl methacrylate monomer (MMA); and (8) any product the Board bans or restricts. Practitioners also may not carry instruments in or on their clothing, such as instrument belts. The first offense for a prohibited item is a warning letter, and consecutive later offenses cost $500 per item.

The Full Text, Item by Item

K.A.R. 28-24-14(a) says the following "shall be prohibited in each establishment or school":

Two more subsections complete the rule:

• (b) No practitioner may carry any instrument or supplies in or on a garment or uniform, including an instrument belt or instrument organizer. Tools carried on the body cannot be kept clean or separated from used tools.
• (c) Owners may not let excessive waste, refuse or other hazardous items accumulate on the premises.

The Noninvasive Line: Calluses, Cuticles and Skin

"Noninvasive" is defined in K.A.R. 28-24-1(l). Services must be "confined to the nonliving cells of the epidermis found in the stratum corneum," and nail technology "shall not alter, cut, or damage any living cells." For nail technicians, this means:

• Calluses are thickened stratum corneum. They may be softened and smoothed with callus softeners, foot files, paddles and pumice. They may never be shaved with a blade. A Credo blade, any razor-type callus shaver and any "callus plane" are razor-type devices.
• Cuticle vs. eponychium. The cuticle is dead tissue stuck to the nail plate and may be loosened and removed. The eponychium is living skin and must never be cut.
• Hangnails and dead tags may be trimmed with nippers only where the tissue is dead and detached. Never cut into living skin.
• Ingrown nails, blisters and warts are medical issues. Refer the client to a physician.

The Board has applied the same test to other services. In 2019 it approved dermaplaning and milia lancing for cosmetologists and estheticians only because they stay in the stratum corneum. The scalpel may not be used on calluses or blemishes, because that falls under the 28-24-14(4) ban.

Common Confusions on the Exam

Methyl Methacrylate (MMA): Why It Is Banned and How to Spot It

The Board links to the Nail Manufacturers Council (NMC) report on MMA monomers. In the 1970s the FDA acted against several manufacturers of MMA nail products after complaints of skin allergy, loss of feeling in the fingertips, and permanent loss of the nail plate. The NMC gives these reasons to avoid MMA liquid:

1. Poor adhesion. Technicians must "rough up" the nail plate with coarse abrasives to make MMA stick, which thins and weakens it.
2. Too rigid. MMA makes the hardest, most rigid enhancements. When the nail is jammed, the thinned natural nail often breaks before the enhancement does.
3. Very hard to remove. MMA does not dissolve in product removers, so it is usually pried off, causing more damage.
4. Unsafe practices. Salons using cheap gray-market MMA are more likely to skip correct preparation, application and removal.

The NMC also states that MMA is not considered a carcinogen and does not harm unborn babies. Those are myths, and the real reasons are the four above. Liquid monomers from responsible manufacturers use ethyl methacrylate (EMA).

How to tell (Board FAQ and Nail Service Safety Guide):

• a strong, unusual odor that does not smell like other acrylic liquids;
• enhancements that are extremely hard and difficult to file;
• product that takes more than an hour to soak off in solvents designed to remove artificial nails in 30 minutes or less;
• unusually low prices can also hint at MMA, because it costs several times less than EMA.

Enforcement

The fine schedule gives a warning letter for a first prohibited-item offense and $500 per prohibited item for consecutive later offenses. Discipline under K.S.A. 65-1908 is also possible, with fines up to $1,000. A client's consent does not make a prohibited practice legal. The rule applies to the establishment and the practitioner no matter what the client asks for.