Tattoos: A residual risk remains

Tattoos are probably known to everyone. Whether the classic flower on the arm or the skull on the chest.

There is a residual risk. What actually happens to the color that wanders through your body? A tattoo remains forever and yes that is really forever. Even after a very expensive and especially painful laser treatment.

The color remains in the lymph nodes. This has found out the Federal Institute for Risk Assessments by means of a study conducted in 2017. It was investigated to what extent color pigments collect in the body after a tattoo.

This study was published in Scientific Reports. Who now still thought, a tattoo is only superficial, is mistaken. Because the color migrates through the entire body. The reason for this is actually a very healthy defense system what we have. “Why tattooed people get colorful lymph nodes.” First of all, when tattooing, the so-called color pigments are pricked only into the top layer of skin 3 mm deep into the tissue.

The problem however what our body has, it does not like guests, which is not on the guest list. It perceives the pricked color particles as foreign bodies. Defense cells try to expel the intruders and transport the color away. The tattoo now remains on the surface, but the small color pigments go on a journey through our body and are then deposited in our lymph nodes. But a what, is not yet determined. What effects these accumulations mean for our body has not yet been fully clarified. The so-called toxicity, i.e. how toxic the particles ultimately are, depends on the chemical structure of the contaminated paint.

But for reassurance:

Nowadays, mostly only high-quality paints are used. However, it should be remembered that some paints can still cause allergic reactions. For example nickel. Especially red tones are often associated with allergic reactions. What dangers ultimately exist for our health, remains to be researched.