Epoch Times:
FDA alerting consumers, tattoo artists, and retailers of the potential for serious injury.
In a recall notice on May 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said there are six tattoo ink products that are contaminated with bacteria and can cause serious infection and injury.
The FDA says people who plan to get a tattoo should ask their artists what inks they use. Tattoo studios and retailers are being told to no longer use or sell the six products under the recall.
“Tattoo inks contaminated with microorganisms can cause infections and lead to serious health injuries when injected into the skin during a tattooing procedure since there is an increased risk of infection any time the skin barrier is broken,” the FDA said in the recall.
For those who suspect they may have an infection, check for any rashes or lesions with red papules around where the possibly contaminated ink was applied.
The FDA noted that tattoo ink infection can result in permanent scarring. They also said that it may be hard for a person to tell whether they were infected by bacteria from tattoo ink because the initial signs and symptoms can be difficult to tell apart from other conditions, such as allergic reactions.
However, those who think they may have been infected by contaminated tattoo ink should contact their doctor and let their tattoo artists know, the FDA stated. They should also consider reporting their case to MedWatch, the FDA’s Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program.
The six products below have been recalled:
- Scalpaink SC basic black tattoo ink, manufactured by Scalp Aesthetics, all lots
- Scalpaink PA basic black tattoo ink, manufactured by Scalp Aesthetics, all lots
- Scalpaink AL basic black tattoo ink, manufactured by Scalp Aesthetics, all lots
This is one health crisis I’m safe from.
My prayers have been answered.
Ha! The only ‘tattoo’ I have is a dot on my chin. Got it accidentally from a puncture wound from a sharp #2 pencil.
Never even considered a ‘real’ tattoo.
My mother says that all tattoos have a hidden message that says “I’m an idiot.” I never disagree with mom.
Recall! Do they remove the ink? Colored botox?
LOL, many, many years ago my wife’s friend had us take her to get a tatoo. While she was doing her thing I was shooting the bull with the head honcho. I asked him about color fastness since at that time (80’s) I was having to take all the heavy metals like Cd out of my plastic formulations etc.
The guy bitched about how poor color stability was without the heavy metals. “I have every metal on the period chart on me, so, when I shower I tingle all over since my skin is essentially a battery.” Too funny.
Abstinence wins again.
Unfortunately, I am the only non-tattooed one in my family. Ex got a butterfly after we split. Things went downhill from there.
I understand why one gets a tat commemorating a deceased loved one, but just to have them? Not so much.
I have a B-i-L that lost his only son about 10 years ago. He took a favorite photo of him to a tat shop and now he wears something that you could never recognize as his son.
I see no point in telling people how awful their tats turned out. Too late.
I do advise the newly grieving to hold off on such things and use him as an example why.
I’ve never understood why people would disfigure themselves.
Sounds like something that could be easily remedied, if desired.
In 5th or 6th grade the tip of a very sharp #2 ended up in my arm. It was there for years. Sometime in my 20s I couldn’t find it any more.
I always considered just it an oddity I could show & tell. Was glad it disappeared. Now I’m down to freaking people out with the hidden dent in my skull from forceps at birth.
Yeah, it explains a lot 🙂
I wanted to gat a tat on my left septuagenarian ta, but the artist said he didn’t do such very long stemed roses.
That would mean that 90% of the 10 to 50 age group of self mutilating morons are infected. If hepatitis and HIV doesn’t phase them then this won’t either.
My younger son (now 26) decided to get his ears pierced when he was 18, with the idea that he would work his way up to larger “gauges” and have a large hole in his ear lobes. My wife and I explained we didn’t want to see him disfigure his body and do something he’d only regret later. Soon after, one of the ear lobes got mildly infected and caused him some trouble. I was so glad when I saw that! He made the right decision and got rid of that nonsense.
I “get it” but I just don’t get it; I’m an old guy and it’s a new day and time. I see guys at the gym all covered in tats and they think they look all badass. They don’t. They look ridiculous. The girls are covered in tats and think they look sexy. They don’t. They look trashy.
The only tats I ever thought were cool were the ones I saw as a kid on my uncle’s and grandfather’s forearms…the crudely applied ones that denoted the unit/branch of military they served in wartime. Those were a badge of honor to me, something that they earned.
Tattoos are just plain mutilation.
Wonder how many Maoris died from tat infection?
Ted, my son’s gauged earlobes are nearly back to normal after 15 years.
I miss the days when man and wife didn’t get into spats about who got to wear the ear rings out to dinner.
One of the symptoms is slut-ititis.
Boortz observed that there is no woman ever – knockout, plain or ugly – whose beauty or lack of it was improved by tattoos.
Dadof4, “Sounds like something that could be easily remedied, if desired.”
Nah, it’s no big deal. Most people don’t even notice. Just looks like a little freckle that is slightly blue-tinted.
“hidden dent in my skull”, hey, that only makes you unique! 😉
3 of my 6 kids have tats. In this day and age, I think 50% success rate is pretty good.
I met a waitress once with Hebrew characters tattooed on her forearms. I didn’t have the heart to tell her the Talmud forbids tattoos.
By the way, why is it that the minimum wage employees and the unemployed always seem to have the most tats?
LOL, @Different Tim, I had to really laugh out loud at that. I think I may have to borrow that! Sorry to peeps who have them, but I have never liked them and do really feel they make a statement about their owners. It is just not classy, even a little trashy looking. Totally with @Ted Nougat on that one.
My son (16) recently came home with an ear piercing done by a classmate – one of those dumb things teenagers do when they are sitting around and bored. I probably could have lived with the earring, but not the way it happened, and let him know that allowing someone to perform an invasive procedure on one’s body without knowing the negative possibilities is perhaps one of the worst decisions anyone could ever make – and scarier is that you may not realize the consequences of that decision til months or even years later.
He was fastidious in caring for it, but I think in the end the stress and worry got to him and he took it out after about a week or so. He got a crash course in those few days about infections, and I hope he never forgets it, including when the time comes that his friends are getting tattoos. He doesn’t seem to be that into them, though, hopefully that won’t ever change.