Your Questions About Tattoos, Answered

On July 29, industrial hygienist and president of Arts, Crafts & Theater Safety, Inc. Monona Rossol discussed the toxic dangers of tattoos. She also took the time to respond to listeners who wrote us on our show page. Read her answers below.

A Grateful Mom from Harlem

Thanks. My teen daughter wanted one. I thought the only risks were hygienic, and had told her OK - as long as we carefully choose the service. You saved me years of miserable fretting that my baby might get something life threatening because I had engaged in bad parenting. I am so insistent upon all natural and organic products. This was going to be a one exception to make a teen happy. How can we get the word out to other parents and teens? Is mainstream medicine aware of this? Do they accept it? Where does the dermatology profession stand on this? - A grateful Mom

Dear "Mom,"  Thanks for the kind words. The smart dermatologists are now aware of these problems since the case histories in the medical journals are making this point repeatedly. I think it is the public that now needs to be informed and I'm not sure how to make this happen. Leonard Lopate clearly did his part in getting this message out. Hopefully more broadcasters will also cover this issue.

Thanks for your comments

Monona Rossol

Jeff from Guilford, CT

How scientific are these studies that metals in tattoo ink migrate to other parts of the body to cause medical problems associated with metal intoxification? Also, aren't modern inks manufactured to contain no metals? Please be clear whether tattoos are conclusively harmful. Or, are tattoo's prior to a certain date harmful and later ones not? And are tattoo inks that contain metals still on the market? and if the FDA has issued statements regarding the harmful affects of tattoos, shouldn't they have government warnings on the ink or some other way for tattoo recipients be required to be aware of this?

Jeff, that's a LOT of questions. I refer you to the Lancet review to see all of the studies and references. Just google the Lancet medical journal, register for free on their site, search for "A medical-toxicological view of tattooing." You can read the text for yourself. You can't download it without a charge, but you can see it all. Then search the site for the appendix to this paper which is free and which charts almost all of the different pigments used both historically and now.

The 26 authors are listed both under the title and in a column on the right margin where their affiliations and degrees are after there names. As an industrial hygienist in this field many years, I've never seen a collection of people from better institutions and agencies all in one place. And there are 88 papers and studies referenced.  

In other words, yes, I think you can rely on the information in this review. Tattoo inks both in the past and today contain toxic substances. The new information is that even right after tattooing, these pigments and impurities migrate into the body, primarily in the lymph nodes. This is probably more of a problem today since pigments have more recently been provided in smaller particle sizes including in nanoparticle size. I leave it to you to decide whether toxic substances in your lymph nodes is a good idea or not.

Both metal-containing pigments and inorganic pigments based primarily on synthetic dyes are used.

The US FDA only has jurisdiction to require proper labeling of the inks and that they be compliant with the 1970 Poison Prevention Packaging Act so that children cannot get them open and accidentally ingest them.

Whew. I think that does it. If you have more, e-mail again directly to actsnyc@cs.com 

Monona Rossol

Sean from Brooklyn

As for your image with the story, isn't there a possibility of doing a study on yakuza members in japan? They all have their backs covered.

Sean, that is a GREAT idea. One of the first studies showing that the benzidine dyes cause bladder cancer was done on Japanese Kimono painters and dyers.

Monona Rossol

Amy from Manhattan

Not a safety issue, but blood donors aren't allowed to donate for 12 months after getting a tattoo, w/1 exception: Tattoos if applied in NJ, no wait: If elsewhere, 12 months after application (from the New York Blood Center, http://nybloodcenter.org/donate-blood/become-donor/can-i-donate-blood/, which also says: Ears, nose or skin piercing 12 months after procedure unless done under sterile conditions)

Amy. That is clearly due to the slight possibility of getting a transmissible infection such as HIV or Hep C, etc. And NJ has some enforcement of their rules on safety and sterile conditions that they obviously think are working. Thanks, that's something we didn't cover.

Monona Rossol

Elizabeth

Not only will you be jeopardizing your future health, you are also saying that your life will not change. I know my life changed over time, and even now I regret some things I did when I was younger. Luckily, those things did not have such a lasting impact. Elizabeth

Elizabeth. Good point. It's sort of like thinking back what your life would be if you married and had to remain forever with that first boy friend that you outgrew.

Monona Rossol

Jack from neptune NJ

It is "dis en gen ous" to talk about dangerous chemicals when they are parts of compounds! It scares people. For example Sodium Chloride. Two of the most DANGEROUS elements in their natural state!!!!!

Jack, back to school for you, friend. Some of the chemical pigments slowly release their toxic metal elements such as lead, cadmium, and nickel to cause systemic effects. And the "inert" pigments/minerals such as titanium dioxide or silica don't dissolve at all, but their surface characteristics cause cancer. The organic pigments break down to their chemical precursors which are usually highly toxic. Oh if toxicology were only as simple as you suggest.

Monona Rossol

Chip from nyc

Your guest gave misinformation. If a tattoo is excised surgically (not removed by laser), any pigment which remains in the area and has not already spread to other areas of the body, will be removed. This should theoretically lower the risk of side effects. 

Chip, the pigments migrate right away. In fact, it is right after a tattoo that the local lymph nodes light up the best. Later they move around more. So that stuff isn't leaving no matter how soon the tat is removed.

And if the skin is surgically removed down to below the area affected by the tattoo, there will either be scarring or skin graft may be needed. It is why almost no one opts for surgical removal anymore and why I didn't bother covering it.

Monona Rossol

Joe Mirsky from Pompton Lakes, NJ

“The Latest fad of women, delicate little paintings on the shoulders when in evening dress, was started by the Gaiety Girls, who now set the London styles. Two of them appeared at a supper party given by a spendthrift young earl at the Lyric club dressed in extreme decollete gowns. And on each shoulder was a delicately painted, small but gorgeous butterfly. The work was exquisitely done by a prominent water color artist.” — This article, titled The Butterfly Fad appeared in the Carbon County Sentinel, Gebo, Montana, April 5, 1901. Gaiety Girls were showgirls who appeared in musical comedies at the Gaiety Theatre in London.

Joe, thank you.  That is an interesting bit of history I didn't know.  I will try to find out more about whether these were temporary skin painting or actual tats.

Monona Rossol

Truth & Beauty from Brooklyn

I would think that any organic substance used as an ink would eventually be broken down by the body, which is why specific non-organic inks are used. But I'm sure some of the non-organic inks are broken down, as well. Notwithstanding, I'm not interested in tattoos, although, admittedly, those done by really talented artists can be very beautiful. But not on my bod. Vibrating tattoos are repulsive.

Truth..., to help keep the organic pigments from breaking down, they are usually "laked" (attached) onto an inorganic substrate.  When they attach the organic chemical to something inorganic like barium sulfate or aluminum hydroxide, they don't dissolve as readily, don't dissociate as fast, and they remain mostly where they are put.

Monona Rossol

Darren from Red Hook

What about breast reconstruction after breast cancer mastectomy? Reconstructed nipples are often tattooed with pigment to match you remaining nipple or skin tone.

Darren, there are all kinds of reasons to take limited risks in life. On the air, I mentioned tatooing normal skin color into areas that have lost their pigment due to disease or scarring as a pretty acceptable practice and reason to take this risk. You have mentioned another good reason to take this risk. Thanks,

Monona Rossol

Wanda from Manhattan

Leonard, please ask your guest about india ink used in homemade tattoos. Is this more or less toxic than professional tattoos? 

Wanda, I mentioned some of the issues on the air with using India Ink. Historically any type of carbon was used from lamp black (the soot collected from whale oil or kerosene lamp chimneys), carbon black from igniting petroleum distillates such as kerosene in a chamber, burning pine pitch and more. These are all going to be full of highly toxic impurities such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. And today, some of these same black pigments are being used and the Lancet review I cited on the air showed that the toxic impurities are documented to be in the skin around these black tattoos.

In India ink, the pigment is mixed with odd substances such as shellac (the exudate from lac bugs), ox gall (from the gall bladder of an ox), and on and on.

So all the same pigment issues are there, and worse. In addition, there is no sterile requirement for India ink so gosh only knows what is growing in the liquid forms. Not a good idea.

Monona Rossol

Joe Mirsky from Pompton Lakes, NJ

This will Make Your Skin Crawl Nokia has patented a tattoo that vibrates when your cell phone calls. The tattoo would use ferromagnetic ink that would be magnetized once the tattoo has healed. Your cell phone would signal the tattoo when a call comes in and your skin would vibrate. You could program the phone to give you different vibes for phone calls, text messages, emails, or your mother calling. Don’t answer the call from the Borg. Copyright © 2015 Joseph Mirsky

Joe, I really thank you for this bit of information.  It was very effective on the program as the worst example of the lengths to which this minor form of insanity has gone.   It's listeners like you that make the programs interesting.

Monona Rossol

Peg

I think ALL tatoos are repulsive. ...Art on buildings; not on bodies.

Peg,  I'm with you.  As an artist, I would want more control over my colors and the "canvas" than this.  Just think of what a late case of chicken pox or adult onset zits could do to these things!   And then there's age which will slowly wrinkle and sag the painting.  The world is in for some really ugly oldsters one day.

Monona Rossol

Diana Peck

Our dermatologist explained this to us a few years ago when my daughter wanted a tattoo. She said that when a tattoo fades, it's because the body is carting away the heavy metal of the ink molecule by molecule and depositing it in a lymph node because that's where unwanted things go to be cleared, but the lymph nodes can't handle all of it and the heavy metals accumulate there.

Diana,  As I said on the program, that's basically right for those inorganic pigments.  In addition some of the organic ones are breaking down into their colorless components which are almost always very toxic.   That smart doctor is a keeper.

Monona Rossol