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Toxins in tattoos

But they look so cool right?!! This is an unsuspecting source of toxins for most. According to Green Med Info, "A recent study published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials revealed that chemicals present in tattoo ink induced cytotoxicity (cell death), genotoxicity (DNA mutation), and adaptive stress response pathways.”


This is a short list of toxins you could find in your tattoo ink...


☠ Heavy metals like mercury, cadmium, lead, copper, titanium and nickel.

☠ Titanium dioxide (genotoxic/damages DNA)

☠ Bacteria strains like staphylococci, streptococco and pseudomona

☠ Carcinogens like phthalates and benzo(a)pyrene

☠ Chemical preservatives

☠ Carbon black & polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (carcinogens made from soot)

☠ HCBD (a hazardous waste)

☠ Mold


There have been over 100 studies on the health effects of tattoo ink revealing its effects on brain damage, nerve damage, autoimmunity, birth defects and cancer. Tattoo pigments aren't regulated by the FDA and many ink recipes are proprietary. Not all colors are created equal - different colors use different ingredients for pigmentation with red being the riskiest.


If you still want to get some ink done, look for organic, vegan tattoo artists. Here are some other things to look out for:


👉🏼 Black - Choose inks derives from logwood and magnetite crystals & avoid animal based inks (India inks)

👉🏼 Red - red ink with naphthol instead of cadmium, mercury or iron oxide

👉🏼 Purple - Carbazole or dioxazine instead of manganese violet

👉🏼 Yellow - Choose arylide or tumeric based pigments.

👉🏼 Blue - Sodium based copper pthalocyanine pigment

👉🏼 Green - Monoazo copper pthalocyanine pigment

👉🏼 Brown - Avoid iron oxide


And if you are already tatted up and are struggling to get to the root cause of your health issues, a heavy metal detox or lymphatic cleanse may be a game changer. 💪🏼






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