The US is a major global supplier of tattoo inks, and yet little data exists about their impact on our health. That’s worrying regulators in Europe Americans love tattoos. Nearly a quarter of them have gotten inked, compared with 12% in Europe. The personal expression that is skin deep is particularly popular with young people: 40% of American teenagers sport tattoos. Women are also more likely than men to get one. Yet very little is known about the effects of modern day tattoo ink on the human body. The lack of research and data is worrisome because some of the key ingredients are known to make people sick or die. It also makes it difficult to regulate them. A recent report from the European Commission warns that tattoo ink often contains “hazardous chemicals” such as heavy metals and preservatives that could have serious health consequences, including bacterial infections. A separate study issued earlier this month by the Australian government reveals that 22% of the inks tested contained chemical compounds known to cause cancer. The European report notes that regulators are especially wary of imports from the US, which supplies the majority of tattoo inks to the world. The report highlights the health risks and provides European countries with scientific evidence so they can decide if better oversight of tattoo inks is necessary. “The question is, what’s in the tattoo and what can it do to the body?” said Tyler Hollmig, director of Laser and Aesthetic Dermatology at Stanford UniversityHealth Care. “The answer is, we just don’t know.
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January 2017
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