FDA: Contamination in tattoo and permanent makeup ink

HARLINGEN, Texas ( ValleyCentral ) — The Food and Drug Administration has released a warning about the ink being used for tattoos and permanent makeup.

For years, the FDA has warned of the dangers of tattoo and permanent makeup ink being contaminated.

New research has found dangerous bacteria and other organisms in inks the agency tested. The FDA oversaw recalls of contaminated ink products in 2004, 2012 and 2017. In 2019, they announced another recall for ink that was contaminated with microorganisms.

A recent study found the problem could be much worse than what was previously thought.

The agency looked at 75 inks from dozens of different companies and found that 35% of them were contaminated. Their findings also showed that ink used for permanent makeup procedures was more likely to be contaminated than ink used for tattooing.

Tattoo artist Jamie Rodriguez, Owner of Fire and Ice Tattoo in Harlingen, said he has not gotten any notices about any of the products he uses being recalled, and none of the ink he has in stock appeared on any notices.

However, if an issue were to come up with one of his clients, he would be able to easily track it back to the manufacturer.

“If they let me know that burgundy, and then they’d cross number with the lot number and the date, then I’d know which one to get off my shelf,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez has been tattooing people for more than 25 years and said he can track a specific ink to an individual client.

“We’ll have the ink information down here. So if that person needs to find out what we used, it’ll be check-marked for the appropriate ink we used on that person, that day. So if there is a problem or a complication, we can always look it up and track it back.”

The new study from the FDA specifically looked at anaerobic bacteria, which is bacteria that can grow without needing oxygen.

Rodriguez said his shop gets regular visits from the Texas Department of Health. Inspectors look at his equipment and his ink.

“Make sure everything’s not expired. If there was any complaints of those inks, they would also know”, Rodriguez said, “Make sure we’re not still using those inks.”

Fire and Ice said it buys its supplies from reputable companies, but the FDA has not announced which company’s inks were shown to be contaminated. They added some of the bottles had been labeled as sterile.

The FDA has said if a customer thinks they were injected with contaminated ink, they are advised to report it to MedWatch or contact their nearest FDA Customer Complaint Coordinator .

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