Some may leak into the lymph nodes
Tattooing is an art that has been practiced by humans for thousands of years. While 32 percent of U.S. adults have at least one, many of the inks used today in the United States to decorate people’s skin are more of a mixed bag than an exact mix, a new study has found.
Kelly Mozman, a chemistry researcher at Binghamton University in New York, and his colleagues analyzed more than 50 tattoo inks from nine different brands used in the United States, after noticing that some of the inks they used in previous studies contained substances not listed.
By testing inks made by global companies and small producers, the researchers found in their new analysis that 45 of the 54 inks they chemically analyzed contained substances not found on the label, such as dyes or additives not listed.
Some ink labels also included additives that were not present; Of the 36 listed glycerin substances, only 29 types were detected in inks. Only one brand’s labels accurately listed the ingredients contained in the ink, according to the Science Alert website, citing the journal Analytical Chemistry.
In this context, fifteen inks contain propylene glycol, which is the allergen that causes contact dermatitis, while the other samples tested contained substances that may be harmful or foreign, such as antibiotics. Whether these are accidental contaminations of tattoo inks, labeling errors, or intentional additions is not yet known, nor has it been detected; Which requires further investigation. But given how long tattoo inks remain in the skin, their recall of immune cells, and evidence that small amounts of pigment can leak into lymph nodes, the findings are alarming enough to warrant attention.
Notably, a 2021 study revealed that tattoo inks used in the EU also had major issues with mislabeling and unlisted additives in a similar proportion of products (around 90 per cent) with metal impurities also detected in concentrations exceeding regulated limits.
“We hope that manufacturers will seize this opportunity to re-evaluate their processes, and that artists and customers will seize this opportunity to push for better labeling and manufacturing,” said John Swerk, senior author, Chemist at Binghamton University. Tattoo inks, especially red colors, can cause allergic reactions such as swelling, itching, and blisters months or even years after they are first injected. However, if the ingredients are not listed on the product labels, it will be difficult to determine the cause of the reaction and prevent it from occurring again.”
Mozman and his colleagues studied the pigments in tattoo inks and the materials used to suspend the pigments in solution, or adjust the ink’s viscosity or surface tension.
The team used multiple analytical techniques to confirm the presence of substances not included in the list.
Raman and XRF spectroscopy allowed the researchers to identify the pigments present in each ink while NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry were used to find out what was present in the carrier solutions; The detection limits of NMR spectroscopy meant that the researchers only focused on substances present in the carrier solution at very high concentrations of 2,000 parts per million (ppm) or more, meaning that anything at lower concentrations might not have been observed. For its part, the European Chemicals Agency, which introduced regulations in 2022 to restrict thousands of dangerous chemicals found in tattoo inks, considers that the substances may reach concentrations as low as 2 parts per million.
“Although we consider only six inks per manufacturer, there is reasonable cause for concern that labeling issues potentially extend to other inks that were not considered in this study,” the researchers concluded in their paper.
At the end of 2022, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also moved to regulate tattoo inks as part of expanding its authority to regulate cosmetics.
This change allows the US Food and Drug Administration to recall products, if necessary.
Since this type of regulation is less than two years old, it is not surprising that researchers have found products containing ingredients that are not listed on the labels. But these results can be used as a basis for comparison with the results of future studies, to evaluate the impact of these regulations and ultimately improve safety.
“);
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-3341368-4’); });
}
2024-02-29 11:23:59
#Hidden #ingredients #tattoo #inks
