How should one dispose of cut finger nails? Is it dangerous for a pregnant woman to walk on them?

Question

Is there an Inyan of pregnant women walking over cut nails ex: a nail salon? Also, can I just vacuum up the cut nails from the floor?

Answer 1

The Mishna Beroura (260, 6) quotes Gemara Nidda (17a) disapproving someone who would throw nails on the highway after cutting them.

Indeed, a pregnant woman could step on them and lose her child.

Gemara's conclusion :

• the one who burns his nails is a 'hassid
• the one who buries them is a tzaddik
• the one who throws them is a racha'

The practical advice is to throw them in the toilets because with modern ones it's considered as being buried.

Answer 2

Yes, Zahava, the gemara in Moed Katan 18 says that walking over nails can cause a woman to miscarry. One reason given (Be'er Hetiv/Tola'as Ya'akov) is because Chava caused the loss of "full-body nails". As a consequence, women are put in danger by the nails which remained on the fingers and toes.

The gemara gives options of how to dispose of them:

• You can dispose of them into a place where they will not be walked on. This is referred to in the gemara as "burying them". Also, the gemara has R' Yochanan throwing them in the study hall, since women don't go there.
• A better option is to destroy them in a way that there is no chance of them doing any more damage. This is referred to in the gemara as "burning them".
• Transfering the nails into a different "area" than they were originally also takes care of the issue. The case in the gemara was from inside to outside.

Vacuuming them would certainly fulfil the 2nd option. I'm not sure how far the 3rd idea goes and whether it would apply from one area to another area in the same salon.