Tattoo ink: contains K pathogens, detects strange bacteria

The latest study tested 75 samples of tattoo ink and permanent makeup sold in the United States by 14 manufacturers not identified by the FDA. Some samples were labeled as "sterile," CNN reported.

Researchers found that 26 samples from 10 manufacturers (equivalent to 35% of the sample set) had some level of contamination. While most samples showed bacterial counts below 250 CFU/gram, some samples contained bacterial counts as high as 100,000 CFU, Katz said. (Each CFU constitutes a colony, meaning that many microorganisms are contained in that 1 colony).

"Based on the results of the study, we would like to emphasize the importance of continuously monitoring products after tattooing to ensure the bacteriological safety of tattoo ink," Seong-Jae (Peter) Kim , a Microbiology Associate at the FDA's National Toxicology Center in Jefferson, Arkansas, said in a statement. Kim is the corresponding author of the report published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology on July 2.

Study co-author Linda Katz, director of the FDA's Office of Cosmetics and Colors, said contaminated tattoo ink can cause NT and serious injury because it is injected deep into the skin, where some bacteria are present. can develop.

"Pathogens or other harmful substances in tattoo ink can move from the tattoo site through the blood and lymphatic system to other parts of the body," Katz shares.

When the bacteria spread throughout the body, it can cause life-threatening complications such as endocarditis, an inflammation of the lining of the heart that can lead to "sign out" or NT shock, which is the final and serious stage. Most importantly, the body's extreme response to infection can lead to multi-organ failure.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if not treated promptly, "sepsis can quickly lead to tissue damage, organ failure and loss of life."

According to Katz, other more common symptoms of tattoo ink NT include rash at the injection site; impetigo, a highly contagious bacterial skin infection; rosacea, a bright red and tender rash on the skin; and cellulitis, a deep skin infection that requires treatment with antibiotics.

People with multiple tattoos or large tattoos are at higher risk from contaminated ink, Katz said, because large tattoos increase exposure to microorganisms. She also said that permanent makeup tattoos (eyebrow tattoos, lip tattoos, eyelid tattoos...) can also increase the risk of NT.

"Regular tattoos or makeup tattoos both carry a risk of complications if contaminated ink is used, but permanent makeup tattoos around the eyes can pose a higher risk because bacteria can enter the eye and cause pain." .infection," explains Katz.

However, John Swierk - associate professor of chemistry at Binghamton University, State University of New York, who has researched tattoo ink infections - considers this study's findings not surprising.

"We know tattoo ink contamination is a common phenomenon. Part of the reason is that there is no agreed-upon, industry-standard method of sterilizing tattoo ink. Our work and this new research really highlights the need for good, standardized manufacturing processes across the tattoo ink industry."

Tattoo ink is inserted into the dermis (deep layer of the skin) using a needle. The body sees tattoo ink as a foreign object and will try to push it out of the skin, but the chemical nature of tattoo ink makes this process quite difficult for the body. Therefore, most of the color remains in the skin.

The tattoo needle will prick the skin about 100 times per second, with the goal of depositing the ink in an area 1.5 to 2mm below the skin's surface. The reason is that this depth exceeds the outer layer of the skin, or epidermis.

The epidermis is the part of the skin that continuously renews itself. Every day, thousands of epidermal cells are shed from the skin and replaced by new cells. The ink inserted into the surface layer of skin will disappear within 3 weeks.

To make the ink permanent in the body, the tattoo needle must pass through the epidermis into a deeper layer, or dermis. Nerves and blood vessels are located here, which is why tattooing will cause pain and bleeding.

Most tattoo pigment remains in the body after a person gets a tattoo. The ink is not erased by special repair and recovery cells, called macrophages. "Usually the ink doesn't travel very far from the injection site," says Dr. Arisa Ortiz, a dermatologist and director of laser and cosmetic dermatology at UC San Diego Health. "Most of the time, the ink is pressed. engulfed by skin or immune cells, and then by surrounding swabs in the dermis".

However, researchers are taking a closer look at how much tattoo ink travels to other parts of the body, especially the lymph nodes.

Scientists also discovered that some toxic heavy metals originating from tattoo ink also traveled to the lymph nodes. Cobalt, nickel and chromium particles, sometimes added to organic tattoo substances as preservatives, reached the lymph nodes.

Other studies have shown that tattoo pigment can travel to other places in the body. In a May 2017 study published in the journal Dermatology, researchers tattooed mice with black and red tattoo ink.

About a year later, the team discovered ink pigment in the lymph nodes of mice, just like in humans, and also in liver cells.

"It's a very interesting and surprising finding," said Mitra Sepehri, lead author of the mouse study. "To reach the liver cells, the pigment must travel through the blood to reach the liver. So we showed that the tattoo pigment can spread through the mouse's blood system as well as through the lymphatic system ".

Of course, rats are not humans, and as Sepehri points out, the study does not confirm that tattooed humans will have their livers contaminated with ink pigments. Additionally, because mouse skin is thinner than human skin, tattoo ink is likely to be stored deeper in mice and is more likely to enter the bloodstream. Even if research continues in five or 10 years, tattoo ink could accumulate in the liver in humans, but it's still unclear whether this will cause any harm.