Researchers from the IRB Bellinzona and the Università della Svizzera italiana spent seven years studying exactly what happens once tattoo ink enters the body, and discovered surprisingly worrying effects.
It was previously believed that the ink remains in the epidermis (the skin). Now we know that it bleeds into the lymphatic system within hours of application.
It is in the lymph nodes that pigments face immune cells, which struggle to absorb the chemical particles but do not have the resources to break them down. Macrophages, found in immune cells, can usually break down common pathogens. But not ink. Instead, the cells themselves are killed, and lymphatic production is disrupted.
That certainly triggers a short term inflammatory reaction which, depending on several different factors, can lead to chronic immune strain.
So the acute phase lasts for about 48 hours, and chronic inflammation can brew in the background for years. But the acute phase is not concerning to health professionals — it’s the fact that subtle stress on the body can leave it vulnerable to infection or disease as time goes on.
Focus was on black, red and green, of which red and black have shown themselves to be particularly irritating.
This may seem somewhat obvious, but what is more shocking is how tattoos affect vaccination response. In mice that were tattooed and subsequently vaccinated, the antibody response was significantly weaker compared to non-tattooed animals.
One specialist called these the findings as striking but not alarming, musing that only extensive long-term studies can truly clarify the potential risks.
Because tattoos have become increasingly popular in the past two decades — with one out of five people being tattooed — prudence is now advised for those with immunological vulnerability.
