Tattoos have become a massive trend starting about 20 years ago in America and Europe. Propagated primarily by athletes, rappers, musicians and celebrity culture it has become a worldwide obsession where it has become more normal to have a tattoo than to not have one.
This is understandable for many reasons. The two most likely are that people want to impress others and the other that they are truly meaningful to themselves. Either way, there is important information that people need to understand about tattoos before getting one as they can actually be very toxic and dangerous.
Most tattoo inks contain a host of different heavy metals which are toxic to the body such as cadmium, mercury, lead, antimony, beryllium, and arsenic. Here is a list of some of the risks of these heavy metals;
Mercury is a neurotoxin that can damage the brain and lead to physical and emotional disorders.
Lead interferes with a different body processes and is toxic to some of the body's organs, including the heart, bones, intestines, kidneys, nervous system and reproductive system.
Beryllium is listed as a Class A EPA carcinogen.
Cadmium is a heavy metal that poses severe risks to human health, including kidney, bone, and pulmonary damage.
Arsenic is a known carcinogen.
Antimony exposure can cause irritation of the eyes, skin and lungs.
To put this into perspective, since 2007 a lawsuit brought by the American Environmental Safety Institute (AESI) to two of the leading tattoo ink manufacturers must now place warning labels on their product containers, catalogs and websites explaining that “inks contain many heavy metals, including lead, arsenic and others” and that the ingredients have been linked to cancer and birth defects.
Furthermore if needles and equipment are not properly sanitized and sterilized, you risk contracting hepatitis B or C, tuberculosis, mycobacterium, syphilis, malaria, HIV or even leprosy, amongst other things.
Before this freaks you out, there are ways to take precautions and avoid these serious problems. There are non-metallic alternatives available but it is up to you, as the individual to ask about this and research it as well. According to How-To-Tattoo.com, companies that use the highest quality brands and are transparent with ingredient info and manufacture non-toxic inks are: National Tattoo Supply, Eternal, Skin Candy, Dynamic and Kuro Sumi.
So before you get a tattoo, do your research!
Thanks for taking the time to read this article. If you found this information helpful, please share it with your friends and family. Your support in our endeavor of sharing free information would be much appreciated.
Follow us on Facebook to stay updated with what's going Viral in the Alternative News scene. https://www.facebook.com/ViralAlternativeNews
Sources:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tattoo-ink-mercury-and-other-toxins/
http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm048919.htm
http://www.naturalnews.com/043593_tattoos_heavy_metals_poisoning.html
