ALBANY — A big fashion fad may soon be sleeping with the fishes.
Barely a year after the fish-pedicure phenomenon arrived from Asia, an influential state lawmaker has crafted a bill to ban the treatment.
The legislation from state Sen. Jeffrey Klein (D-Bronx) would make New York the 15th state to deem unsanitary the practice of using scores of hungry little carp to suck dead skin from the feet of beauty seekers.
“Sometimes, people might think that something sounds cool, ‘It’s trendy. Let me try it,’ ” said Klein, who plans to unveil the legislation at a news conference today.
“They should know the ramifications. This is something that is dangerous and clearly unsanitary.”
The practice was imported to the states just last year by a Virginia beauty-salon owner who had discovered it during a trip to China.
It features the so-called doctor fish — a species of toothless miniature carp, named Garra rufa, that is native to hot springs in Turkey.
Generations of health seekers and psoriasis sufferers have flocked to the natural spas to experience the reputed healing power of the fish.
More than a dozen states, including Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, have targeted the practice as a health risk and banned it.
Proponents of such bans argue that allowing fish to feast on feet in tubs of open water flies in the face of rigorous health regulations that licensed cosmetologists must otherwise meet.
Health officials said their only fear is that the fish could spread infections to customers through open wounds.
Other opponents suggest that salons — pressed by the steep cost of Garra rufa — may opt for a cheaper variety of fish that has tiny teeth.
Klein said “hearsay” evidence suggests that there are a number of fish-pedicure providers among the city’s 8,355 licensed beauty salons.
A spokesman from the Department of State, which regulates beauty salons, said the agency had not received any complaints but was nonetheless wary of the trend.
“This is something that for a whole number of reasons we would be concerned about,” said the spokesman, Joel Barkin.
“This may already be something that’s not allowed under a current law.”
Klein said, “Once we shed some light on this dirty little process, more people will avoid it and we can ban it.”