A tattoo, or dermal pigmentation, is a mark made by inserting pigment into the skin for decorative or other reasons.Tattoos have a special place among body ornaments, because they cannot be washed or worn off like body 
paints. Tattoos pigments are entered under the top layer of skin by means of a needle, and this process ensures that the pigments cannot be removed and simultaneously the organism is exposed to the ingredients in the tattoo colors in a very direct way.
There are no uniform rules that describe the raw materials to be used for manufacture of pigments for tattooing, or that tell how the color itself should be tested. Only some of the ingredients used in tattoo inks are approved for use in cosmetics, foods, and medical devices (including iron oxides and titanium dioxide). Because it requires breaking the skin barrier, tattooing may carry health risks, including infection and allergic reactions as there were metal ingredients used in tattoo inks reported an article in one of Bentham Open Journals medio January 2009.
The purpose to implement good practices in order to prevent risks connected to tattoos was the background of this article and also that there were many complications associated with the introduction of pigments into the skin with local inflammation, infection, and allergic reactions are the most common adverse effects. The main points are: hygienic requirements of the spaces, authorisation and license of the structure and the personnel, hygienic measures and provisions, information, training and control.
Giovanni Forte from Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy and his colleagues stated that metallic ingredients of pigments used for tattoos should be analysed and a systematic risk assessment with respect to potential health impacts should be performed.
For a total of 13 tattoo pigments were obtained from one tattoo ink supplier in Italy comprised the following pigments: black ink, brite orange, canary yellow, country blue, deep blue, deep green, deep brown, deep turquoise, deep violet, golden yellow, lime green, red scarlet, and white brite to be examined for the content of Cd, Co, Cr, Hg and Ni.
The results of the analysis of pigments are given in such tables. The highest concentration was observed for Cr, followed by Ni and Cd and, to finish, by Co and Hg. And detailed description about colored inks used for tattooing
practices contained a great variety of metal salts, which makes them a potential source for developing skin reactions,
including allergic reactions, pseudolymphomas, systemic sarcoidosis and granulomatous or lichenoid reactions as stated below:
Being the quantity of Cr and Ni, in some cases, over the standard limit for skin reactions, the contact with pigments can be thought to be relevant to the development of contact dermatitis by tattoos, or to be sufficient to provoke skin sensitisation.
Curious about reading complete article of Quantification Metallic Ingredients of Tattoo Pigment, find detailed information in 8 pages/680 KB of PDF Filetype available (source: bentham.org)
