What Are The Health Dangers of Tattoos

Maybe you don’t care.

But before you get a tattoo, it’s only sensible to first consider the health consequences.

Anytime your skin is penetrated, that’s a health risk. No matter how fashionable, cool, sexy or hip – it’s a risk.

True, you’re not alone. Tattoo popularity has greatly increased in the past few decades. About 38% of those aged 18-29 now have at least one tattoo. So do one in three of GenXers. It’s an over $1 billion business.

Needles

As someone who lived through the AIDS scare of the 1980’s, it’s difficult to understand why people would voluntarily let needles penetrate their skin without an important medical benefit.

Granted, there’re now medicines to control AIDS, but it’s still a dangerous disease. And re-used needles that are improperly sterilized can also spread hepatitis B and C, staph and herpes, as well as other infections.

Therefore, nobody should give themselves or friends do-it-yourself tattoos. Make sure any tattoo parlor you go to is licensed and takes all precautions to use only fully sterilized needles. If you have any doubts, stay away.

A tattoo is a wound. It can allow microorganisms to infect you. The infection may be local, or it may spread to other parts of your body.

The wound can bleed, and it does hurt. Those are warning signs.

Ink

The needle may be properly sterilized, but some people have allergic reactions to the ink.

Technically, tattoo ink is regulated by the FDA, but only as cosmetics. Therefore, the FDA doesn’t approve the ingredients that go into tattoo ink. According to the FDA, it’s found tattoo inks that are “industrial strength” colors.

If you live in California, Proposition 65 requires tattoo parlors to warn customers the inks contain heavy metals that may cause cancer.

The FDA has had seven voluntary recalls of tattoo ink since 2004. In one case, 19 people contracted serious infections from contaminated ink before it was recalled.

Also, microorganisms may contaminate the ink itself. That’s according to a safety advisory issued by the US Food and Drug Administration in May 2019.

Thanks to being injected into your skin’s second layer, the dermis, those microorganisms can cause infections and scarring.

Some tattoo pigments contain toxic heavy metals, including:

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