Chemical Found In Tattoo Inks May Cause Cancer, Study Claims
Tattoos may be a beautiful art form, but a new report suggested that it can be a cause of cancer.
Daily Mail reported that a new research has suggested that the chemicals found in tattoo ink could travel to a person's bloodstream, and it could pile up in the lymph nodes. The accumulated chemicals could then block the lymph nodes' capacity to fight infections.
One of the chemicals that are known to be present in tattoo inks is called the titanium dioxide. This reportedly provides certain colors to the ink. However, this type of chemical has also been linked to cancer and other skin conditions such as delayed healing and itching.
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According to the study's author Hiram Castillo who hailed from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility that is based in France, most people who plan to get a tattoo could only consider checking that tattoo shop's hygiene and sterile facilities. But most of the time, they are not checking the chemical composition of the ink colors that the tattoo artist will use in their bodies.
The report also revealed that the researchers utilized an advanced form of X-ray machines to point out the titanium dioxide chemical as well as other heavy metals that can be found in a tattooed skin as well as in lymph node tissues. They found out that the microscopic size of titanium dioxide fragment can be seen in the nodes, which could cause them to be swollen in the future.
Another study author Bernhard Hesse also said: "We already knew that pigments from tattoos would travel to the lymph nodes because of visual evidence: the lymph nodes become tinted with the color of the tattoo. It is the response of the body to clean the site of entrance of the tattoo."
The study was first published online in the Scientific Reports journal on Tuesday, Sept. 12.
