Black Tattoos Entail Substantial Uptake of Genotoxicpolycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) in Human Skin and Regional Lymph Nodes

Abstract

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide have tattoos, which predominantly contain black inks consisting of soot products like Carbon Black or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). We recently found up to 200 μg/g of PAH in commercial black inks. After skin tattooing, a substantial part of the ink and PAH should be transported to other anatomical sites like the regional lymph nodes. To allow a first estimation of health risk, we aimed to extract and quantify the amount of PAH in black tattooed skin and the regional lymph nodes of pre-existing tattoos. Firstly, we established an extraction method by using HPLC – DAD technology that enables the quantification of PAH concentrations in human tissue. After that, 16 specimens of human tattooed skin and corresponding regional lymph nodes were included in the study. All skin specimen and lymph nodes appeared deep black. The specimens were digested and tested for 20 different PAH at the same time.PAH were found in twelve of the 16 tattooed skin specimens and in eleven regional lymph nodes. The PAH concentration ranged from 0.1–0.6 μg/cm2 in the tattooed skin and 0.1–11.8 μg/g in the lymph nodes. Two major conclusions can be drawn from the present results. Firstly, PAH in black inks stay partially in skin or can be found in the regional lymph nodes. Secondly, the major part of tattooed PAH had disappeared from skin or might be found in other organs than skin and lymph nodes. Thus, beside inhalation and ingestion, tattooing has proven to be an additional, direct and effective route of PAH uptake into the human body.

Tattoo Pigments Are Observed in the Kupffer Cells of the Liver Indicating Blood-Borne Distribution of Tattoo Ink

“…By light microscopy we observed large aggregates of pigment in the skin and lymph nodes in accordance with the literature [6][7][8][9]21] . Light microscopy includes a much larger tissue sample and section thickness but this method is limited by inadequate resolution and only allows larger aggregates of pigments to be visualized.…”

“…A study of human skin tattooed black and the regional lymph nodes confirmed that black pigment and polyaromatic hydrocarbons were found in the lymph nodes in high amounts [21] . Deposition of tattoo pigment in the skin is not stationary.…”

Black tattoos protect against UVR‐induced skin cancer in mice

“…A tattoo is essentially one large single exposure. PAHs escape to the lymph and directly to the blood stream . Metabolism of PAHs occurs primarily by enzymatic processes and via oxidation by cytochrome P450 in the liver .…”

Safety of tattoos and permanent make-up: a regulatory view

“…Yet, the lymphatic system seems to play a major role in the transport of the applied pigments and its impurities. Black ink could be extracted and analyzed from skin and regional lymph nodes (Lehner et al 2014). Possibly adsorbed to carbon black, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) could be simultaneously detected in concentrations reaching 0.6 μg/ cm 2 in the skin samples and 11.8 μg/g in the lymph nodes, respectively.…”