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Safety of Tattoo Ink

Until recently, the Food and Drug Administration paid little attention to tattoo ink, but Americans haven't let that get under their skin. Actually, in a literal sense, many have. According to a 2008 Harris Poll, forty percent of Americans are tattooed--and the procedure involves injecting ink beneath the surface of the epidermis. As of 2010, tattoo ink manufacturers aren't required to list their products' ingredients. This fact has begun to raise concerns. )

  1. Ingredients

    • Tattoo ink ingredients vary widely by color and brand. In 2005, an undergraduate student at Northern Arizona University performed lab tests on tattoo inks and, to her surprise, found a high amount of lead in the color blue for every brand she sampled. The New York Times reported in 2009 that many inks contain aluminum, cobalt and mercury sulfide. Other substances with carcinogenic properties include selenium and cobalt--though the Times concluded that tattoos don't cause cancer.

    Regulation

    • State and local governments regulate the practices and procedures of tattoo parlors and artists, but the Food and Drug Administration is supposed to oversee the manufacture of ink. The agency claims it hasn't done so because there were so few problems reported and they had other, more pressing, public health concerns. However, prompted by recent reports of bad reactions to permanent inks, they announced in 2009 that they would study tattoo inks and their effects on the body.

    Misconceptions

    • Some ingredients in tattoo ink are FDA-approved for other uses--but don't be fooled into thinking that means the ink is approved. One manufacturer claimed on its website that its ink had FDA approval because it contained polymethylmethacrylate (PMM). "It doesn't make sense," says Bhakti Petigara, PhD, from the FDA's Office of Colors and Cosmetics. "Just because it (PMM) was approved for medical uses does not mean it is approved for tattoo inks." There has been similar confusion and misinformation about other ingredients. Keep in mind that, as of 2010, the FDA has not approved any inks for injection into the skin.

    Risks

    • Some pigments can cause allergic reactions, or your body may perceive the ink's particles as foreign and combat it by forming granulomas--bumps or knots on the skin. Also, though the New York Times reports that tattoos don't cause cancer, they may cover up cancerous or precancerous moles and make it easy for doctors to miss them. Dr. Ariel Ostad of New York University's Langone Medical Center advises that people "should always leave a healthy rim around a pre-existing mole."

    Henna Tattoos

    • Many people think temporary tattoos that use henna--derived from lawsonia inermis plant leaves--is a safe, risk-free alternative to permanent tattoos. Not necessarily, says the American Academy of Dermatology. In a 2008 report, the academy warns that some tattoo artists intensify their black henna dyes by adding a chemical called para-phenylenediamine (PPD), which can cause "major skin problems," including eczema, blisters and permanent scars.

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