Tattoo inks contain nanoparticles

igterex/epictura

Published the 13.09.2017 to 07h52

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dioxide titanenanoparticules

The titanium dioxide is not only used in sweets and biscuits. This nanoparticle would also be present in tattoo inks. A trace is worrisome, because this molecule would be able to penetrate the skin and wander around in the body, suggests a study published in Scientific Reports.

The researchers at the european Synchrotron of Grenoble and the German federal Institute for risk assessment in Berlin explain that this nanoparticle serves as the base for the ink to aoutage. It’s the 2nd ingredient of the most used in these products.

They were able to follow the course of these pigments in the human body through X-ray super powerful. They have then found that the titanium dioxide persists in the dermis. Particles still finer were also present in the lymph nodes.

Risk of chronic inflammation

“We already knew that pigments could travel in the lymphatic network because the nodes are colored after a tattoo. This is the way that the body can clean up the site of the tattoo, described Bernhard Hesse, one of the co-authors of the study. But what we didn’t know is that these colors are related to nanoparticles. And this poses a problem because we do not know as these substances react. “

The researchers are worried because the persistence of a foreign body in the lymph nodes may cause chronic inflammation.

Now, they want to know whether the adverse effects observed in some people with tattoo are due to these particles. To do this, they will analyze human tissues and to study the chemical properties and structural pigments used in tattoo inks.