A recent medical study raises awareness of the risks associated with tattoo ink, including the possibility of cancer-causing agents. Half of the tattoo ink samples examined for the presence of azo were found by State University of New York researchers (56 samples).
The Daily Mail claims that when these molecules are subjected to the UV light that the sun emits, they break down into cancer-causing chemicals.
The particles in several of the inks the researchers discussed were less than 100 nanometers in size, which might allow them to enter the cell nucleus and cause cancerous changes.
Additionally, according to scientists, if the tattooing equipment is not adequately cleaned, a person may develop a bacterial infection through skin penetration or a blood-borne illness like hepatitis.
The researchers revealed that tattoo inks contain ingredients like azo dioxide, titanium dioxide, and ethanol that aren’t listed on the ingredient label at an American Chemical Society conference in Chicago.
Such substances, which thin the blood, may become carcinogenic when exposed to bacteria or sunlight, researchers claim.
The chemist who oversaw the study’s team of researchers, John Swerk, told the British publication Daily Mail that it is hard to predict what the dyes degrade into. We may have safe inks, but their deterioration is worrying.
According to Swirk, several of the inks had extremely tiny particles that might pass through the cell wall and result in cancer.
We don’t know exactly how the laser reacts with the pigments in tattoos when removed, Swerk said, adding that tattoo removal is a risky process with potential health repercussions.
This is how tattoos and cancer are related.
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