The Anatomy of a Tattoo

Tattoo Ink Ingredients Are Not Controlled

Tattoo pigment manufacturers are not required by the FDA or any other federal, state or local enforcement agency to list their ingredients. Many tattoo artists and all commercial manufacturers mix their own formulas and consider their mixtures "trade secrets". These pigments are suspended in a variety of carrier solutions. Some of the vibrant colors are made from ABS plastic, many are made from vegetable dyes, but by far the vast majority are made of metal salts. The main concern with these pigment recipes is what they contain besides the carrier solutions and the dyes.

Tattoo shops that do not adhere to strict safety precautions may be exposing their customers to a wide variety of infections if the artist dips the needle in an infected person and then back into the ink container, then into a new customer's skin. Fortunately most shops are aware of these dangers and take all precautions established by local and state health departments.

Pigment Side Effects

Some pigments can cause an allergic reaction with the skin. When possible, check all pigment MSDS sheets to determine what the possible reactions might be. The reactions can result in photo sensitivity to natural and artificial light or even scarring. Glow in the dark inks, or those that react to black light, can be harmless or radioactive, it depends on the chemical used to create the effect . The ABS plastic based pigments can prove very difficult to remove should the client choose to have the tattoo removed
at a later date. Most inks pose no threat , but the lack of regulations make some inks risky. Be sure to use a reputable artist who is willing to describe the components of the ink used in your tattoo.

Pigment Carriers

The job of the carrier is to keep the pigment liquified, inhibit contamination and ease the injection of the ink into the skin. The safest and most common carriers are ethyl alcohol, glycerin, purified water, witch hazel, listerine and propylene glycol . Before modern standards it was not uncommon to use other forms of alcohol, usually denatured, and other toxic liquids including chemicals or contaminated water.

Tattoo Pigment Injected into the Dermis

BLACK: made of iron oxides, carbon, or logwood. "Natural black pigment is made from magnetite crystals, powdered jet, wustite, bone black,and amorphous carbon from combustion (soot). Black pigment is commonly made into India ink. Logwood is a heartwood extract from Haematoxylon campechisnum, found in Central America and the West Indies."
BROWNS, FLESHTONES: made of ochre. "Ochre is composed of iron (ferric) oxides mixed with clay. Raw ochre is yellowish. When dehydrated through heating, ochre changes to a reddish color."
RED: made of cinnabar, cadmium red, iron oxide, or napthol. "Iron oxide is also known as common rust. Cinnabar and cadmium pigments are highly toxic. Napthol reds are synthesized from Naptha. Fewer reactions have been reported with naphthol red than the other pigments, but all reds carry risks of allergic or other reactions."
ORANGE: made of disazodiarylide, disazopyrazolone, or cadmium seleno-sulfide. "The organics are formed from the condensation of 2 monoazo pigment molecules. They are large molecules with good thermal stability and colorfastness."
YELLOW: made of cadmium yellow, ochres, curcuma yellow, chrome yellow, or disazodiarylide. "Curcuma is derived from plants of the ginger family; aka tumeric or curcurmin. Reactions are commonly associated with yellow pigments, in part because more pigment is needed to achieve a bright color."
GREEN: made of chromium oxide ("Casalis Green" or "Anadomis Green"), Malachite, Ferrocyanides, Ferricyanides, Lead chromate, Monoazo pigment, Cu/Al phthalocyanine, or Cu phthalocyanine. "The greens often include admixtures, such as potassium ferrocyanide (yellow or red) and ferric ferrocyanide (Prussian Blue)."
BLUE: made of azure blue, cobalt blue, or Cu-phtalocyanine. "Blue pigments from minerals include copper (II) carbonate (azurite), sodium aluminum silicate (lapis lazuli), calcium copper silicate (Egyptian Blue), other cobalt aluminum oxides and chromium oxides. The safest blues and greens are copper salts, such as copper pthalocyanine. Copper pthalocyanine pigments have FDA approval for use in infant furniture and toys and contact lenses. The copper-based
pigments are considerably safer or more stable than cobalt or ultramarine pigments."
VIOLET: made of manganese violet (manganese ammonium pyrophosphate), quinacridone, dioxazine/carbazole, and various aluminum salts. "Some of the purples, especially the bright magentas, are photoreactive and lose their color after prolonged exposure to light. Dioxazine and carbazole result in the most stable purple pigments."
WHITE: made of lead white (lead carbonate), titanium dioxide, barium sulfate, or zinc oxide. "Some white pigments are derived from anatase or rutile. White pigment may be used alone or to dilute the intensity of other pigments. Titanium oxides are one of the least reactive white pigments."

The Science of Tattoo Formation

Modern electric tattoo guns create thousands of puncture wounds in the skin to inject tattoo pigment and form the tattoo. The ink particles are effectively trapped by a network of connective tissue in a type of cell called a Fibroblast. This is the connective tissue that produces fibers such as collagen. It is believed that fibroblasts last the lifespan of the individual receiving the tattoo and one reason it is so difficult to remove a tattoo.

This entire process causes damage to the epidermis and the dermis and they become blended together as a result of the mutilated layer that usually separates the two. The body responds by bleeding at the surface of the skin as a result of the severed capillaries. The immune system responds by swelling to shut down the blood flow. The immune response cells then begin cleaning up by sending the ink through the lymph node nearest the tattoo site. At first the ink is dispersed in the upper region of the skin, but within 1 to 2 weeks it becomes more concentrated in a single area as new tissue begins to
form around the ink and traps it in the dermal fibroblasts. After about 30 days the two layers of skin have healed enough to trap the ink and within 90 days the tattoo ink is completely surrounded by connective tissue that holds the ink in place. Over time, usually many years, it will begin to subside deeper into the dermis, or second layer of skin making removal even more difficult.

For Those Considering Their First Tattoo