Today, tattooing has become very popular among people all over the world. Tattooists, with the help of tiny needles, place tattoo ink inside the skin surface and introduce a large number of different ingredients. These ingredients can include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy metals, and primary aromatic amines (PAAs).
Tattoo ink has been seen to be absorbed through the lymphatic system, in one 22 year old woman that had been diagnosed with a melanoma, doctors found out that the black appearing of her lymph node was due to the ink of the tattoo, not secondary to a metastatic disease.
The European Union has started to prohibit use of certain pigments in tattoo inks due to safety concerns. In the United States, tattoo inks are subject to regulation by the U.S Food and Drug Administration, which generally does not investigate commercial inks unless it receives complaints about specific safety issues, such as contamination. The FDA has not specifically approved any pigments for cosmetic tattoos.
There are also some risks associated with tattoos that people may or may not be aware of:
- Allergy to different components of the tattoo ink like paraphenylene diamine, chrome, quinacridone and cobalt. Not only local cutaneous allergies but also severe reactions like anaphylactic reactions which can be life threatening.
- They can be related to lesions after the tattoo like lupus like cutaneous lesions, psoriasis, lichen, etc.
- They can produce oxidative stress and generate an immune response triggering autoimmune diseases.
- If not using sterile techniques, the equipment can transmit bacteria, viral and fungal infections.
- In some cases cutaneous sarcoidosis and even systemic sarcoidosis have been found.
- Can lead to immune dysfunction if ink products enter the lymphatic system and spread around your body, especially an issue with lymphatic drainage issues.
Composition of Tattoo Ink:
According to ink color:
- Mercury for red
- Lead for yellow, green or white
- Cadmium for red, orange or yellow
- Nickel for black
- Zinc for yellow or white
- Chromium for green
- Cobalt for blue
- Aluminum for green or violet
- Titanium for white
- Copper for blue or green
- Iron for brown, red or black
- Barium for white
- Carbon black for black
To reduce production costs, some tattoo ink manufacturers will blend heavy metal pigments with lightening agents, like lead or titanium. Pigments can also be made from other elements, including calcium, antimony, beryllium, sulfur or arsenic.
Although many of the toxic substances may be absent from organic inks, they can still contain heavy metals, like titanium oxide.
Some “glow” tattoos use phosphorus as well.
Carriers:
Carriers will keep the ink more evenly mixed, free from pathogens and aid in application. When alcohol is used as a base, it will increase the permeability of the skin, transporting more pigment into the dermis.
- Ethyl alcohol
- Distilled water
- Denatured alcohols
- Methanol
- Rubbing alcohol
- Propylene glycol
- Glycerin
Additives:
Preservatives such as benzoic acid may be added to tattoo ink to prevent contamination. Some inks contain formaldehyde as a preservative, which is a carcinogen and may cause dermatitis in the skin. Other inks may use benzisothiazolinone, which is a skin irritant. To help the carrier serve as a vehicle for delivering pigment, commercial formulations may include wetting agents, pH-regulating chemicals, stabilizers, and thickening agents. Ink manufacturers may add witch hazel to help the skin heal after the tattooing process.
Is it Safe to Remove a Tattoo with Laser?
When you perform a tattoo, the ink will be placed with a needle deeply inside your dermis.
When laser is applied to the skin, it heats up the ink and shatters it, but only where the laser arrives, so it reaches the most superficial layers first and this is why you need more than one session to remove completely a tattoo.
But after the laser shatters the ink, your immune system works to remove it over the following weeks, flushing it away from the tattooed area most likely through your lymphatic system.
So if you want to do that, supportive/complementary treatment needs to accompany the laser so your lymphatic system can eliminate completely all the toxins that your body is trying to flush out.
What can I do?
If you want to remove your tattoo safely or you just want to clean your system of possible toxics after getting one, here are some things to consider:
- Open all your detox pathways! You will be flushing out all the toxins through your detox pathways. You can watch Dr. Jess course drainage pathways to ensure they are working perfectly.
- Support your lymphatic system vigorously. Walk at least 10000 steps a day, exercise almost everyday, use rebounding, dry brushing everyday.
- Drink at least 2 liters of mineral water everyday, use things like adrenal cocktail to increase minerals (you can find the recipe on the drainage pathways article).
- Go to a lymphatic massage specialist once a day for 3 days after each laser session.
- Use lymphatic support supplements like KL support from Cellcore.
- Support your immune system by going out in nature, recovering the circadian rythm going out at sunrise and blue blocker glasses at sunset, 8 hours of good sleep, and good anti-inflammatory nutrition.
- Supplements to help your immune system: B vitamins, Minerals, Vitamin D, Magnesium, Reishi, etc.
- Use binders! You can use Biotoxin binder from Cellcore during all the process or laser removal or after performing a new tattoo, and combine it with Viradchem from Cellcore too.
REFERENCES:
- Complications des tatouages : informations récentes justifiant la prise de mesures urgentes. C. Géraut DOI : 10.1016/j.banm.2020.04.008
- Tattoo inks are toxicological risks to human health: A systematic review of their ingredients, fate inside skin, toxicity due to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, primary aromatic amines, metals, and overview of regulatory frameworks. Sandeep Negi doi: 10.1177/07482337221100870