Table of contents:
- How do I get a permanent tattoo?
- Where did the tattoo ink go?
- Can all types of tattoo ink get into the lymph nodes?
- So, is tattoo ink dangerous?
It takes a brave soul and a strong determination to get a permanent tattoo. Most people probably spend their time thinking about what design to tattoo their body, but few people think about what will happen to tattoo ink when it is injected into their skin.
In fact, scientists are still investigating this. Why does tattoo ink stay under the skin? Will the ink enter any further into the body? Find out what the experts are saying below, yes.
How do I get a permanent tattoo?
To create a permanent tattoo, a tattoo artist uses a small needle that pricks the skin at a frequency of 50-3,000 times per minute. The syringe penetrates the skin through the epidermis to the dermis and leaves a colored pigment all over the area. The dermis layer consists of collagen fibers, nerves, sweat glands, sebaceous glands, blood vessels, and various other components that keep the skin connected to other parts of the body.
Each time the needle penetrates the skin, the prick causes a cut in the skin and causes the body to initiate an inflammatory process which is the skin's method of dealing with harm. Immune system cells will arrive at the wound site and begin to repair the skin. These immune system cells are what make the tattoo permanent on your skin.
Where did the tattoo ink go?
Most of the tattoo ink pigments remain on the skin after a person is tattooed. The ink, which is not cleaned by immune system cells called macrophages, will remain in the dermis layer of the skin, so the tattoo design can be seen on the person's skin.
Researchers say that usually tattoo ink will not move too far from the injection site. However, there is still some ink that can transfer to other parts of the body, especially the lymph nodes. In a study published in Journal of Scientific Reports, it has been proven that in people with tattoos there can be enlarged lymph nodes and the pigment of tattoo ink is found in the lymph nodes.
Can all types of tattoo ink get into the lymph nodes?
To investigate the side effects of spreading tattoo ink pigments, researchers used several different tests to analyze the shape of the ink that could get into the lymph nodes and the damage the pigments might cause. Experts found that it was nanoparticles or particles that were less than 100 nanometers in size that were more likely to move into the lymph nodes.
The study found that carbon black, which is one of the most commonly used ingredients in tattoo inks, appears to break down easily into nanoparticles and end up in lymph nodes. They also discovered titanium dioxide (TiO2), which is a common ingredient in white pigments that are usually combined with other colors to create specific nuances in the lymph nodes. This type of ink does not appear to break down into particles as small as carbon black, but some of the larger titanium dioxide particles were still detectable in the lymph nodes in the study.
So, is tattoo ink dangerous?
Researchers found that some of the potentially toxic heavy metals from tattoo inks also got into the lymph nodes. They detect cobalt, nickel, and chromium particles in the lymph nodes. The heavy metal is usually added to tattoo inks as a preservative.
Other research has shown that tattoo ink pigments can migrate to other places in the body, apart from the lymph nodes. A 2007 study with mice tattooed on the back found that tattoo ink pigments are also present in liver cells. The ink pigments are detected in a special cell in the liver that acts as a cleaning agent for toxic substances, called Kupffer cells.
However, these studies cannot confirm that humans who are tattooed will cause pigment in their livers. This is because mouse skin is thinner than human skin, which makes the pigment more likely to enter the bloodstream.
Researchers say that although we know that tattoo ink can be deposited in the lymph nodes and liver, it is not yet known whether it will cause any particular harm to the body. So far, evidence has shown that these pigment deposits can cause enlarged lymph nodes and blood clots. However, long-term studies in humans are still needed to determine the exact effect tattoos have on the human body.
