Abstract
To the Editor.— The dangers of acrylic fingernails are not limited to those described in a recent JAMA Questions and Answers. 1 Methemoglobinemia has been reported in a 16-month-old child who drank a solution containing N,N-dimethyl- p -to-luidine used by her grandmother, a professional manicurist, in making artificial fingernails. 2 A series of serious (and one fatal) cyanide poisonings have occurred when children have ingested sculpted nail remover solvents, which contain acetonitrile and other nitriles. It is important to point out that these were initially confused with less serious acetone-containing standard nail polish removers. Acetonitrile (vinyl cyanide) and other nitriles are slowly metabolized in the body to cyanide, so that the serious manifestations of the ingestion usually occur several hours after the ingestion, sometimes after the child has been sent home from a medical facility. 3,4
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