tattoo ingredients and safety

[CultExciter]

I don't think there is anything wrong with my tattoo and I don't think I'm poisoned. This has nothing to do with me being relaxed, I just wanted to know if anybody knows what is in the ink.

"Magic stuffs" are in tattoo pigment. That's all you need to know.

[smiling.politely]

Stoney used to put some Come Back in his... that's all you can find readily as a non-tattooer.

[9Years]

Stoney used to put some Come Back in his... that's all you can find readily as a non-tattooer.

My bank account will attest to the fact that the "come-back" seems to be working...

[Cork]

Probably higher chance in catching heavy metal poisoning from listening to too much Judas Priest. How much Priest is too much Priest?

This much.

[PinkUnicorn]

Possibly of interest from Scientific American:

In the Ink: Do All Tattoo Pigments Use Mercury and Other Toxic Heavy Metals? - Scientific American

"While red causes the most problems, most other colors of standard tattoo ink are also derived from heavy metals (including lead, antimony, beryllium, chromium, cobalt nickel and arsenic) and can cause skin reactions in some people.

Helen Suh MacIntosh, a professor in environmental health at Harvard University and a columnist for the website, Treehugger, reports that as a result of a 2007 lawsuit brought by the American Environmental Safety Institute (AESI), two of the leading tattoo ink manufacturers must now place warning labels on their product containers, catalogs and websites explaining that “inks contain many heavy metals, including lead, arsenic and others”"

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Possibly of interest from Scientific American:

But perhaps the end of the article is the most use for the nervous amongst us (like me):

Kunin reports that black might be the safest permanent tattoo ink; it is often derived from a substance called carbon black and rarely causes any kind of sensitivity issues. If your heart is set on red in your tattoo, ask around to see if any tattoo parlors in your area are willing to work with non-metallic organic pigments that lend a red color such as carmine, scarlet lake, sandalwood or brazilwood. There are non-metallic alternatives available for many other popular tattoo ink shades, too.

Also, for what it's worth, I was seeing my dermatologist for an unrelated matter and asked him about my getting a tattoo.

He had no concerns, except to say that he preferred black and blue inks as those are the easiest to remove!

[Tesseracts]

Thanks for tolerating my questions everyone. I'll be honest, my motivation for starting this is my parents have been giving me a hard time about the yellow ink. I can't find any cases of cadmium poisoning though so I'm not that worried.

PinkUnicorn, I also asked my dermatologist a while ago about tattoos. He was worried about the ability of my skin to heal itself at that time (that problem is now resolved) but didn't say anything about poisoning.

[tatB]

Thanks for tolerating my questions everyone. I'll be honest, my motivation for starting this is my parents have been giving me a hard time about the yellow ink. I can't find any cases of cadmium poisoning though so I'm not that worried.

PinkUnicorn, I also asked my dermatologist a while ago about tattoos. He was worried about the ability of my skin to heal itself at that time (that problem is now resolved) but didn't say anything about poisoning.

Sounds like they are being negative nancys about your awesome tattoo. Not cool of them.

[beez]

Maybe slightly off topic, but I have noticed that certain yellows heal really poorly on me! Or it's possible I'm making it up....case in point, the yellow peony on my side knee was bright yellow. Now it's muddy yellow, BUT the parts where it is muddy are still healing (when I touch 'em the skin is not smooth yet) - so maybe I just need to wait.

The yellow on the shishi on my thigh had a similar weird heal. But the yellow/gold on the peony on my back? No prob!

I'm gonna attempt pics.

Actually, after taking pics they really aren't all tha bad, oh tattoo paranoia!

But if anyone has any thoughts, I'd love to hear...;)

Also one time I asked what kind of ink I was being tattooed with - "Tattoo ink". And that was the end of that.

[bongsau]

I think this is a legit question, but I don't think we are going to get a scientific answer. Maybe in 40 years we will...when our arms are falling off and we have leprosy from the long-term impact of getting tattoos :p

If we were truly worried about possible harmful side effects of tattoo ink (or tattoos in general) you would never have set foot in a tattoo shop to embrace the risk, whatever that risk may be, if the risk even exists. You wouldn't be injecting magic staining potion under your skin and you would live a healthy pure life in your BPA-free plastic bubble. We probably put more bad shit into our bodies from the middle aisles of the grocery store, nevermind tattoo inks.

I've had conversations with my tattooers about inks. Responses were along the lines as their inks come from reputable tattooer friends and that the inks are handcrafted. Or the ink is from one of the couple reputable tattoo supply companies. Or they've earned/learned how to make their own inks.

You want to know what's really in the inks? WIZARD DUST. And perhaps some bulldog semen in the white inks, to give that ivory sheen in the sunlight. Sounds legit to me :cool:

[Graeme]

Possibly of interest from Scientific American:

In the Ink: Do All Tattoo Pigments Use Mercury and Other Toxic Heavy Metals? - Scientific American

"While red causes the most problems, most other colors of standard tattoo ink are also derived from heavy metals (including lead, antimony, beryllium, chromium, cobalt nickel and arsenic) and can cause skin reactions in some people.

Helen Suh MacIntosh, a professor in environmental health at Harvard University and a columnist for the website, Treehugger, reports that as a result of a 2007 lawsuit brought by the American Environmental Safety Institute (AESI), two of the leading tattoo ink manufacturers must now place warning labels on their product containers, catalogs and websites explaining that “inks contain many heavy metals, including lead, arsenic and others”"

I was trying to follow up on references given in the article but couldn't find much through a Google search other than other websites making reference to this lawsuit. This American Environmental Safety Institute doesn't seem to have a website anymore either. I did find reference, however, to another lawsuit the AESI brought against chocolate manufacturers--though the lawsuit was never tried before a court according to this article--about levels of lead occurring in chocolate. This letter from Environmental Health Perspectives criticises the science (the author contends the study contains "careless and misleading science") used in the AESI leaden chocolate study. Does it follow that the science used by AESI in the lawsuit against Huck Spaulding and Superior Tattoo Equipment is similarly flawed? It's impossible to say without critically assessing the studies themselves, but it does mean that I'm going to take that Scientific American article with a grain of salt, especially since I don't see heavily tattooed people suffering the symptoms of lead or other heavy metal poisoning.

[DJDeepFried]

It's a fair question, and there's a lot of fear-mongering going on. Common sense tells us: the body absorbs very little ink into the bloodstream otherwise our tattoos would quickly disappear instead of gradually fading over a period of years. In any case, the body is pretty good of ridding itself of toxins. Even if tattoo ink were toxic, it would likely manifest itself as a mild allergic reaction on the skin as opposed to say, organ failure -- and even then I'd be quicker to blame the tattooer than the ink. Finally, if it were toxic, we'd surely have heard something by now considering the number of people who have been tattooed over the last several centuries.

[Hogrider]

I'm of the anal retentive personality type and did tons of research before getting a tattoo. I found very little evidence of actual problems. Even with red ink, most of the issues, that I found anyway, boiled down to it taking longer to heal rather than long term problems. I look at it like this - approximately 20% of the American population has tattoos. With more than 250,000,000 adults in the US, that's about 50,000,000 people in the US alone that have tattoos.

If tattoos caused significant problems, we would know by now.

[Orangutango]

We probably put more bad shit into our bodies from the middle aisles of the grocery store, nevermind tattoo inks.

This. Reading Michael Pollan made me consider this more carefully. "Bread" for example, should not have 25 ingredients.

If there is real concern, do a baseline urine/sweat/hair/fat (I think they would show results differently depending on the substance concerned) test for heavy metals and then you can see if it increases over time/tattoo coverage.

[Bunny Switchblade]

Unicorn tears and the souls of dead cats

Maybe this is why I love pussy so much???

OMG....tattoo pigments are why I am gay!!!

Nothing in life is safe......and no one is going to tell you what is really in the pigments......I've been tattooed for a loooong time and other than it making me a lesbian and the total lack of filter on my mouth anymore....i think I am perfectly normal! ;)

The unicorn tears are why the tattoos don't hurt so bad.....without them you could never tolerate getting tattooed.....

[Fala]

Reviving this thread because this was just posted in my FB feed: http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736%2815%2960215-X.pdf

Long perceived as a form of exotic self-expression in some social fringe groups, tattoos have left their maverick image behind and become mainstream, particularly for young people. Historically, tattoo-related health and safety regulations have focused on rules of hygiene and prevention of infections. Meanwhile, the increasing popularity of tattooing has led to the development of many new colours, allowing tattoos to be more spectacular than ever before. However, little is known about the toxicological risks of the ingredients used. For risk assessment, safe intradermal application of these pigments needs data for toxicity and biokinetics and increased knowledge about the removal of tattoos. Other concerns are the potential for phototoxicity, substance migration, and the possible metabolic conversion of tattoo ink ingredients into toxic substances. Similar considerations apply to cleavage products that are formed during laser-assisted tattoo removal. In this Review, we summarise the issues of concern, putting them into context, and provide perspectives for the assessment of the acute and chronic health effects associated with tattooing.

[SeeSea]

Thanks for the link, @Fala. I'm going to see if I can get it from work.

[Fala]

Would be great @SeeSea!!!

[Fala]

This is also available from WNYC: Your Questions About Tattoos, Answered - The Leonard Lopate Show - WNYC

Apparently she thinks getting tattooed is a minor form of insanity, as well as ugly, and they're going to kill us. At least we'll be in good company with each other at the insane asylum for old people...

[Hogrider]

Reviving this thread because this was just posted in my FB feed: http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736%2815%2960215-X.pdf

I downloaded and read part of it. A medical-Toxicological view of tattooing my ass. In the introduction it says 50% of people who get tattoos regret it. I've never seen a number that high. 20% of inks are contaminated, but only 1-5% get infections? In Germany 68% of tattooed people reported complications? My tattoo itches, I'm infected, allergic, having a reaction!

Typical of all of these type of articles I've read. Lots of judgment, innuendo and conjecture, few, if any, actual facts. Lots of assertions with little or no basis in fact. I've said it before, with the 10's of millions of people being tattooed and many HEAVILY tattooed, if there was an actual problem, we'd be seeing it.

[Fala]

I concur @Hogrider.