FLICKR, KELVYN SKEETattoo inks consist of organic pigments as well as preservatives and contaminants. According to a study published today (September 12) in Scientific Reports, at least one of these components can travel to the lymph nodes in the form of nanoparticles, posing potential risks to tattooed individuals.
“We already knew that pigments from tattoos would travel to the lymph nodes because of visual evidence: the lymph nodes become tinted with the colour of the tattoo. It is the response of the body to clean the site,” study coauthor Bernhard Hesse, a visiting scientist at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France, says in a press release. “What we didn’t know is that they do it in a nano form, which implies that they may not have the same behaviour as the particles at a micro level. And that is the problem: we don’t know how nanoparticles react.”
The particles the team studied were titanium dioxide (TiO2), a white pigment that is commonly used to lighten various pigments in tattoo ink. ...
