Tattoos: Are they good for the environment?

[The Straight Story]

Tattoos: Are they good for the environment?

...

Planet Green recently looked into the topic and found that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate "any tattoo inks for injection into the skin, and many ink pigments used are industrial strength colors suitable for printers' ink or automobile paint.” The American Academy of Dermatology further details traditional tattoo ink’s not-so-green ingredient list: “Tattoo pigments may contain industrial organic pigments, including azo and polycyclic compounds, sandalwood and brazilwood, as well as aluminum, cadmium, calcium, copper, iron, phosphorus, silica, sulphur, titanium dioxide and barium sulphate, each of which may be the cause of a skin reaction like a rash or be toxic.”

Additionally, some black ink used in tattooing is animal bone burned down to charcoal while the “carrier” solution in the ink may contain glycerin derived from animal fat. So while Gary may not eat any animal products, he’s certainly found a unique way to wear them.

...

That said, it could be the case that Gary has his “work” done at a vegan-friendly tattoo parlor where no animal-based inks are used. There are several out there including Scapegoat Tattoo in Portland, Ore., Daredevil and FunCity Tattoos, both in New York, and Only You Tattoo in Atlanta. There’s a full list of such business over at Vegantattoos.com. Apparently, veganism and tattooing often go hand in hand, with many tattoo artists themselves abiding by strict vegan lifestyles.

http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/natural-beauty-fashion/questions/tattoos-are-they-good-for-the-environment

Tattoos and Body Piercings
http://www.aad.org/media/background/factsheets/fact_tattoos.html

[damntexdem]

1. None of this has anything to do with the environment.

It's all about effects on health (important) and offending animal-rights nutcases.

[booley]

2. health and environment are kind of related

Those aren't separate topics. One influences the other.

Not to mention that whatever we put into our bodies enters the environment one way or the other.

As for animal rights, whether you think them nut cases or not, they have as much right to choose what goes into their bodies as anyone else. IF people didnt' knwo they are being injected with heavy metals, they probably also were unaware about the animal products in the ink.

[jmowreader]

3. This page has a pretty good list of tattoo ink pigments

http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa121602a.htm

One thing they did NOT mention in the Mother Earth News article: there's glycerin in tattoo ink, and a LOT of that is animal-origin.

[hollowdweller]

4. I hate tattoos

I remember all the old veterans in my hometown with the bluish looking american flags and panthers they got while drunk in the service.

When tattoos began to become popular again I heard the inks and technique were much better, but I sure see a lot of bluish blurry looking ones now again.

Then you go to a concert or something and you'll see like 30 people with the same tatoo. So much for standing out and being nonconformist.

The very worst is to see the women who got one on their thigh, or in the small of their back when they were a hot 17 or 18 year old and now they are like 50,60 lbs heavier and have this misshapen blurry blue thing on their skin.

To each his own I guess but what a waste of money IMO.

Also even a good looking woman with her clothes off and a bunch of tattoos to me is like hiking and coming upon a beautiful rock formation that somebody has spray painted a bunch of crap on.

Sorry. Rant off.