If You're Considering a Tattoo, Read This
Tattoos may deposit more than color underneath the skin. Like car paint pigments. And lead.
These are just a couple of the substances that scientists have discovered taint some tattoo inks, raising safety concerns over the widely popular but loosely regulated industry. "Consumers should be aware of the fact that we really don't know what's being injected," warns Linda Katz, director of the Office of Cosmetics and Colors at the Food and Drug Administration. At the moment, the FDA doesn't regulate the inks and pigments used by tattoo artists, even though it's within the agency's authority to do so, and no inks or pigments have been approved for injection. While state and local authorities do oversee the practice, their rules vary, and they're mainly concerned with ensuring sanitation, experts say.
But reports of itching, swelling, rashes, bumps, and other skin reactions have caught FDA scientists' attention. "I'm scarred now," says David Surman, 49, who still suffers the consequences of his $2,000 tattoos two years later; roses on vines that snake up his arms became blisters that itch, bleed, and sting to this day. "I played the guinea pig, more or less." Agency studies are underway to determine whether tattoo inks pose any hidden health risks.
Meantime, Delaware Valley College chemistry Prof. Ronald Petruso has found what he says are potentially carcinogenic substances manufactured solely for car paint in a yellow-orange pigment he tested. And traces of lead turned up in ink samples analyzed by a Northern Arizona University colleague, Jani Ingram. "It just boggles my mind that the federal government has never set regulations for anything like this," Petruso says. Experts believe these materials are being mixed into ink because they endure. "Look at your car—the color is there for 20 years," says Wolfgang Bäumler, assistant professor of experimental dermatology at the University of Regensburg in Germany. His own study of some 40 inks revealed that most contained potentially hazardous chemicals.
Bäumler and Petruso both note that it's still unknown whether the tainting chemicals actually have health consequences. "We have no clinical evidence that these substances in the long run are either safe or not," Bäumlersays. "It could turn out there's nothing to worry about, but to make this statement at the end of the day, we have to follow up with research." Also worrisome: Animal research has shown that pigment in ink doesn't stay put where it's injected but rather roams to the lymph nodes.
Such concerns have prompted the FDA to investigate. Research is aimed at analyzing the chemical makeup of the inks and how they break down in the body; pinpointing what might be causing certain peoples' reactions; finding out where ink goes when it fades following exposure to sunlight or lasers used in removal; and ultimately determining the short- and long-term safety of the pigments used to color inks, according to an agency report out in December dubbed Think Before You Ink: Are Tattoos Safe? Regulations could follow, depending on the findings, Katz says.
Some experts remain skeptical that the inks can be harmful. "My gut feeling is that we're probably not waiting for the other shoe to fall," says Hilary Baldwin, an associate professor of dermatology at the State University of New York and an American Academy of Dermatology member. Even if these chemicals are questionable, she says, the amount injected is probably small enough to render harm a nonissue—though allergic reactions to pigments are fairly common. Her message: "If you're going to get a tattoo, be cognizant of all the risks," Baldwin says. But "I don't think they're going to kill you."
Reader Comments
Little or no risk?
I find it difficult to read the words "as long as the person to be tattoo'ed - is that a word - "does their research" - ok, ok , ok halt right there, what research are they going to do, we spend hundreds of millions to test the safety of items the FDA regulates, such as drug trials, in order to get quantitative data, so that we can have a statistically valid answer - that is called research. Calling around in the yellow pages, and doing some google searches, and asking your buddies, that is inexpensive and antidotal research, but it has little validity because your sample size is too small, you don't have thousands of results, you have results from a handful of people. Second, your pool of responses is from a biased jury, people who like tattoos, so they give the benefit of the doubt, whether there is any data or not, as long as there isn't something blaring in their face, ie, someone hasn't died, or their arm isn't falling off, hey, its safe, no big deal. Well, that's not research, so you get what you pay for, and the quality of that answer from that group of people, is highly biased, and is likely to say something like, "as long as you do your research". Give me a break.
Now I need a break, so I can go down to the tavern, get a beer, and ask everyone at the pool tables whether that black and silver ink over at Joe's tattoos, you know the one that looks really cool, is it safe? When I asked them about that glowing red ink last week, they told me with a lot of confidence, that they didn't know anyone who died. I'm sure they will know about this ink too, and after a couple beers, I'll go down with my new research partners from the pool hall, and get a new tattoo just to prove its safe! That's what I call research! Hey, I gotta live, - who needs the FDA and all those stuffy scientists butting into my tattoo decisions - and besides, my friends all said it was safe. Is that the research you were talking about?
What a bummer....research
Let's see....If I were to research getting another tattoo, I surely would sit here and smoke many cigaretttes. I suppose I would catch myself deep in thought with a pencil in my mouth, one with paint on it. Don't forget the lead in there. The next day I drive my car to work thinking how my airbag will shove this toothpick through my brain if it goes off, in a wreck that might kill me of course. Sitting at a red light, this hillbilly with his big 4x4 truck, tailpipe convieniently at my window, blowing vicious fumes my way. For lunch I think I will super size everything that I can possibly do so, just for the simple fact that I can. It's all sounds bad but whatever.......people do things everyday that they know might kill or harm them. My grandfather lived 80 something years and atleast 60 of those he lived with tattoos that he got during WWII. Sounds like more much a do about nothing. Thanks for the time and have a great day!!!
Give me a break! Research means knowing the shop and knowing the artist. Obviously your buddy at the tavern isn't going to know about the ink you're getting tattooed with, but your artist should...and if he doesn't, you should find someone who does. Most good artists use specifics inks for a reason and more and more ink manufacturers are disclosing their ingredients list because they want people to know what's going into their bodies is non-toxic...it's not that hard to find info on either.
Is the shop reputable, are they up to code on everything, do they sanitize, does your artitst show you how to take care of your tattoo, do they show you the new needles before they open them, can they tell you about their inks, have they had their bloodborn pathogens/OSHA training, etc. These are all things that you can do to "research" before getting a tattoo.
Tattoo training?
Tattooing involves injecting some chemicals (ink) into the skin. How many years of training and education do tattoo artists have in chemistry/pharmacology and invasive surgery? Where do they go to learn about bloodborne pathogens, sterile training, dermatologic infection etc etc. In order to understand what is a proper research, a person needs at least a university education. Many regards grandmother's tale or bar counter chats as research and truth. I suspect the understanding of ethics and observance of proper sterile procedures would be somewhat lacking too.
If you allow some guy with smokes hanging out of the corner of his mouth in a small corner store to perform injections and invasive skin procedures on you, well, you will not only risk just having lead in the paint. Think before you let anyone invade your skin.
"Where do they go to learn about bloodborne pathogens, sterile training, dermatologic infection etc etc....
If you allow some guy with smokes hanging out of the corner of his mouth in a small corner store to perform injections and invasive skin procedures on you, well, you will not only risk just having lead in the paint. Think before you let anyone invade your skin."
In the majority of regulated states tattoo artists are required to be certified which includes an extensive (1-2 year) training program, as well as test qualifying them fo sterilize equipment, deal with blood borne pathogens and more.
As for your obvious lack of information about the Tattoo Industry, it is rare indeed in most places to find men in small corner stores smoking and tattooing. In fact, many tattoo artists today are not only college graduates, but have masters degrees, or even their doctorate.
The entire "tattoo scare" tactic is another "reefer madness" that those who are opposed to the practice promote. If you don't want a tattoo....don't get one, but don't proceed to condemn all tattoos as unsafe because someone got tattooed by a less than respectable artist.
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While I agree, some inks do definitely contain potentially harmful ingredients, this article seems to state that it's a major issue. The majority of inks in reputable studios have been in use by those studios for years, and if they had caused repeated issues, obviously the studios would have lost their good reputation by now. Word of mouth for bad news travels so much faster than good that this is undeniable. Some newer inks however, such as the "glow-in-the-dark" inks, not to be confused with "UV reactive" inks (which are as safe as any other ink), DO contain such toxic chemicals, however any reputable artist will know this and refuse to use such inks. As such, this comes back to the same rule as any other issue with the body modification industry. As long as the person to be tattoo'ed, pierced, ect, does their research, and goes to a reputable studio, there is little to no risk. It's those who don't do these two simple things that end up with issues, and along with the shoddy studios they end up in, give the industry as a whole a bad name.
Apr 15, 2008 22:29:39 PM [permalink] [report comment]