{"id":15004,"date":"2021-07-08T06:59:45","date_gmt":"2023-01-09T16:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saved-tattoo.com\/?p=15004"},"modified":"2024-01-13T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-01-13T00:00:00","slug":"ink-poisoning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saved-tattoo.com\/ink-poisoning\/","title":{"rendered":"Ink Poisoning: Is It Possible and How Do I Know If I Have It?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tattoos have become so widespread that many people don’t really think about how they affect our skin and body. As you may know, no tattoo would be possible without ink, and no ink could be created without a concoction of different chemical substances and compounds.<\/p>\n

So, why is it that we take tattoos so lightly when we literally wound our skin and inject ourselves with chemicals completely willingly?<\/p>\n

Not to scare you or anything, but tattoos can be pretty dangerous and traumatizing to our bodies. So much so that one of the reactions to a tattoo is ink allergy or ink poisoning (out of many other reactions).<\/p>\n

In the following paragraphs, we’ll take a look at the issue of ink poisoning, whether it is possible to get and how it manifests. So, if you’re curious about this potential issue, and you’re a tattoo enthusiast, then keep on scrolling!<\/p>\n

Ink Poisoning: 6 Things You Must Know<\/h2>\n
\"Ink
Credit: Instagram<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1. What Is Ink Poisoning?<\/h3>\n

Many associate ink poisoning with external factors, like dirty, unsterilized tattooing tools, or even mistake it for a tattoo infection. However, ink poisoning doesn’t have to do with any of those things. As the issue itself indicates, ink poisoning is only related to the ink used in the tattooing process.<\/p>\n

Now, the topic of tattoo ink has been a part of a general tattoo safety discussion for years now. The problem is that no ink in the USA is FDA approved, not standardized<\/a>. So, the issue extends, or to be more specific, stems from the very ingredients used to make a tattoo ink; ingredients you would otherwise never put in your body.<\/p>\n

So, ink poisoning is simply a case where someone gets poisoned by tattoo ink<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

2. Why Does Ink Poisoning Occur? – Ink Ingredients and Body Reactions<\/h3>\n

As we’ve established, the problem lies in the ink, or to be more specific, in the ingredients used to make ink. If you’re not familiar with these ingredients, don’t worry. A lot of people, even tattoo artists, aren’t exactly sure what’s in the ink they use or get tattooed with.<\/p>\n

However, research has shown that the main components found in tattoo ink are toxic chemicals and heavy metals, which are the main culprits in cases of ink poisoning. Furthermore, approximately more than 10% of all unopened tattoo ink bottles are already contaminated<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, which ingredients are used to make tattoo ink?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, some of them include carbon black, cinnabar, iron oxide,\u00a0titanium oxide<\/a>, cadmium, chromium, nickel, lead, manganese, denatured alcohol, antimony, beryllium, different kinds of fillers, even sunscreen, rubbing alcohol or animal fat and oil.<\/p>\n

The list of the toxic chemicals and heavy metals goes on, and the majority of them can be found on the EPA list of the common causes of allergic reactions, infections, and cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Red ink is considered to be the most toxic out of all the inks. It alone can contain cinnabar, iron oxide, cadmium, denatured alcohols, and other ingredients that directly cause infections and skin cancer.<\/p>\n

It is essential to mention that to create shades of different pigments, the inks are introduced to a\u00a0white pigment<\/a>, which contains titanium oxide (TiO2). This ingredient alone can contribute to ink poisoning, delayed tattoo healing, tattoo elevation, and skin hypersensitivity.<\/p>\n

Now, all of this is super informative and good to know, but these ingredients must come in pretty small amounts. So, why are they causing poisoning?<\/p>\n

Well, the real issue starts when the ink is placed in the dermis of your skin, permanently. The body recognized these elements as foreign and tries to get rid of the excess ink particles.<\/p>\n

However, it cannot get rid of them completely, ever. Those particles, and toxic compounds, travel around your body (by entering the lymphatic system or the bloodstream) forever, or until you get rid of a tattoo.<\/p>\n

So, to tackle the issue at hand, the immune system tries to fix the damage, but, in case the immune system is weaker or impaired, it cannot prevent the toxic particles to cause reactions, like ink poisoning, allergic reactions, or infections.<\/p>\n

3. What Are The Symptoms of Ink Poisoning?<\/h3>\n

One of the reasons why people mistake ink poisoning for ink allergies or infection<\/a> lies in the symptoms, which are pretty similar. However, because in the case of ink poisoning, the toxic ink enters the lymph nodes and other body parts, the symptoms become much more serious and persistent. Depending on the degree of poisoning, the symptoms include;<\/p>\n