Apr 05, 2017

Tattoos are more popular than ever. Roughly half of millennials have one, as do 36% of Gen Xers, according to a recent Harris poll. The number of Americans with at least one tattoo has jumped 50% in the past four years.

This explosion in popularity has led some health experts to take a closer look at the practice. What they’ve found so far raises questions—and some concerns.

study published this year found that tattoos may interfere with the way your skin sweats. Compared to non-tattooed skin, inked skin excretes about 50% less sweat, says study coauthor Maurie Luetkemeier, a professor of physiology at Alma College in Michigan. “We also found the sodium in sweat was more concentrated when released from tattooed skin,” he says. When your glands produce sweat, the skin tends to reabsorb sodium and other electrolytes from that perspiration before it breaks free. His findings indicate that tattoos may partially block this reabsorption.

This doesn't matter much if you have a single tattoo, or even a few. But if you have extensive coverage—especially on your back, arms or other areas densely populated by sweat glands—tattoos could interfere with the skin’s ability to cool your body and hold onto important nutrients. “You look at someone in the military, where tattoos are very prevalent, and if they’re exposed to high heat and a heavy workload, there could be thermoregulatory problems,” Luetkemeier says.

All of this is, he adds, is very much speculative at this point. But other research has linked tattoos with different health issues.

While exceptionally rare, there are reports linking tattoos to melanoma, says Cormac Joyce, a plastic surgeon at University Hospital Galway in Ireland. In a case study he published in 2015, Joyce writes about a 33-year-old man with an elaborate, multicolored chest tattoo. Malignant melanoma had turned up only in the areas of the tattoo that were filled in with red ink.

In that particular case, the culprit probably wasn't the red ink. Joyce says the man likely had an existing melanoma that his tattoo artist hit with his red ink needle. The artist may have then “seeded” other portions of the man’s skin with malignant cells, he says. That's reassuring news if you have a red tattoo, but probably scary if you're at risk for melanoma. Joyce says spreading malignancy via this sort of skin seeding is rare, but is "certainly possible in the setting of tattooing."

Other case studies link tattoos to skin cancer. “The process of tattooing involves the integration of metallic salts and organic dyes into the dermal layer of the skin,” Joyce says. The resulting low-grade, chronic inflammation that can result from this could stimulate “malignant transformation".

Tattoo inks are mostly unregulated, and blood-borne diseases have reportedly been spread by tainted ink. In 2012, the FDA linked a multi-state bacterial outbreak to contaminated tattoo inks. An investigation detailed in the New England Journal of Medicine found the contamination “could have occurred at various points in the ink-production process”—meaning that tattoo parlors probably weren’t to blame. “Tattoo inks are considered to be cosmetics,” the report’s authors write. As a result, inks are allowed into the marketplace without much oversight, and the FDA and other public safety organizations only step in when something bad happens.

Metals used in tattoo inks may also cause skin reactions. A study from Denmark in 2011 found that 10% of unopened tattoo ink bottles tested were contaminated with bacteria. “Regulation of ink is long overdue,” Joyce says.

“The FDA is conducting research to improve its knowledge of tattoo inks and the ingredients used in them and to look more closely at their different components," an FDA spokesperson told TIME in an email. "The agency is also evaluating methods for the microbiological testing of tattoo inks as a result of microbial contamination of several tattoo inks that have resulted in voluntary recalls."

The risks associated with tattoos—if there are any—are not entirely known. But as more and more people opt for ink, greater scientific scrutiny is needed.

http://time.com/4725634/tattoo-ink-dangerous/

Views: 336

Replies to This Discussion

I'm sorry to hear about your mom.  I got my 1st tat when I was 18 and I went with 2 friends of mine who also were getting one.  Come to find out after all was said and done the guys in the shop were packing (guns) and apparently the shop was in a rough part of town on the Maryland/DC line.  I wondered what else I had missed.  I was more concerned with if it was going to hurt or not!  Needless to say after that I vowed to be more careful and to pay attention!  But I also realized the importance of really thinking of what kind of tat you want instead of trying to just go with the flow of your friends! Luckily I got a small yin yang that worked out nicely.

That is A LOT of tats! But I know it's true that when you get one it becomes contagious! I didn't think it hurt really at all just some minor pricks here and there.  I have 2 now and would ultimately like to get 3 more which I have already decided on what and I cannot wait because it's been too long!  I want to fix up my yin yang too which is about the size of a quarter - I want a mandala design around it.  

RSS

Have questions?

Need help? Visit our Support Group for help from our friendly Admins and members!

Have you?

Become a Member
Invited Your Friends
Made new Friends
Read/ Written a Blog
Joined/ Created a Group
Read/ Posted a Discussion
Checked out the Chat
Looked at/Posted Videos
Made a donation this month
Followed us on Twitter
Followed us on Facebook

Donations & Sponsorship

~~~~~~~~~~~
Please consider a donation to help with our continued growth and site costs

Connect

Visit The Temple
on Facebook:

....

Blog Posts

coat of arms of McIntyre clan.

Posted by Ghillie Dhu on March 2, 2024 at 5:06am 4 Comments

Are Ouija Boards Evil?

Posted by Bill Walker on February 1, 2024 at 8:15pm 1 Comment

TO RISE AND FIGHT AGAIN

Posted by Kitt on December 14, 2023 at 8:55pm 2 Comments

Osiris the Warlock: The Cursed

Posted by saii3ot on October 13, 2023 at 8:30am 0 Comments

Osiris the Warlock: Horus Lives!

Posted by saii3ot on October 13, 2023 at 7:00am 0 Comments

Osiris the Warlock: Nanna-Sin

Posted by saii3ot on October 12, 2023 at 3:30pm 0 Comments

Osiris the Warlock: Daemon

Posted by saii3ot on October 12, 2023 at 6:00am 0 Comments

Osiris the Warlock

Posted by saii3ot on October 12, 2023 at 5:30am 0 Comments

The (3l)ack & Red Dragon

Posted by saii3ot on October 11, 2023 at 1:00pm 0 Comments

The Sin (3l)ood Omen (II)

Posted by saii3ot on October 11, 2023 at 8:30am 0 Comments

The Sin (3l)ood Omen

Posted by saii3ot on October 9, 2023 at 7:30am 0 Comments

The 3nki (Doc)trine: Ptah-Øsiris

Posted by saii3ot on October 5, 2023 at 1:00pm 0 Comments

The 3nki (Doc)trine: Betelgeuse

Posted by saii3ot on October 5, 2023 at 10:00am 0 Comments

The 3nki (Doc)trine: Babylon

Posted by saii3ot on October 4, 2023 at 3:00pm 0 Comments

Joke Corner

Posted by William J. Coblentz on October 4, 2023 at 12:12pm 9 Comments

NOVEMBER AWARENESS

© 2024   Created by Bryan   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service