Nearly half of tattoo inks used in the United States may contain cancer-causing chemicals, a new study suggests.
Researchers at the State University of New York analyzed 56 popular inks used by tattoo artists, and found that 23 of them contain potentially dangerous azo compounds.
Azo compounds are not dangerous in themselves, rather it is their exposure to UV rays or bacteria that can degrade them and turn them into carcinogens.
“Very little information is available on the composition of tattoo inks, so we started analyzing popular brands,” said study lead author John Swierk after a meeting with the American Cheminal Society. .
Particularly surprising, no dye manufacturer produces pigment used specifically for tattoo ink.
“The big companies are going to produce pigments for everything, for paint and textiles. These same pigments are used in tattoo ink,” adds the researcher.
Despite their popularity, tattooing is considered a cosmetic procedure in the United States. Thus the products used for the procedure do not have to be approved by the FDA.
In Europe, two commonly used green and blue inks have been banned since last January. European regulators claimed they contained dangerous chemicals.
The American study which made it possible to discover azo compounds in 23 of the pigments analyzed, also made it possible to detect the presence of other ingredients which did not appear on the labels.
In one case, ethanol was not listed, but chemical analysis confirmed its presence.
Researchers want manufacturers to be more transparent and disclose the ingredients in their inks and pigments.
The experts have notably set up a website where it is possible to know the chemical components present in tattoo inks.
You can view them here: https://whatsinmyink.com/