There are destructive and toxic ways we treat our brain, skin and other organs everyday, without giving it much thought. I’m speaking of organ toxicity and tattoo ink. It seems millions of people old and young have received tattoos in their lifetime. But just like cigarettes years ago, the ramifications were never revealed until more and more people developed serious debilitating side effects. In 1984 when my girlfriend received her first tattoo, I thought is was just a phase that she had to go through. However as of a 2013 report, 45 million Americans have at least one tattoo.(1) You might ask what is the reasoning behind the craving to get a tattoo? The answers range from it makes me feel more sexy, rebellious or intelligent.(1)
Today, studies are now warning us Tattoo INK is toxic.(2) How many signs have you seen posted on the toxicity and cancerous effects of tattoo’s while you are receiving one? I have not seen one. There are no requirements that tattoo inks or pens are guaranteed to be sterile. And just when you think you’ve seen it all, someone decides to use blue tattoo ink in their eyes! (3) I am amazed that one would deliberately want to harm their vision.
The many side effects from tattoo’s creates toxins in our skin, immune system, lymph nodes, eyes, liver, heart, lungs and brain. I wonder how a painful and toxic experience can be so very addictive. And yet as a Health Coach, I see this every day of my life when people eat addictive junk foods.
Here are Some Reasons to say NO to Tattoo’s
1- After tattooing and wound healing, tattoo ink ingredients will stay in skin or will distribute in the human body, particularly the regional lymph nodes.(4) PAH molecules in tattoo inks might cause health problems not only in skin but also in any other organs in the human body that is reached by these transportation processes. (5) This means tattoo ink particles can travel elsewhere in your body, entering organs and other tissues.(10)
3- Our heart pumps blood throughout our bodies. There is a link between body art and infective endocarditis, which is inflammation of the lining of the heart.(6)
4- Dr. Samuel Epstein said “the evidence which we’ve accumulated so far, is largely restricted to the fact that they [nano particles] get into your bloodstream and reach organs throughout your body. And as far as the brain is concerned, we have actual evidence of entry into the brain and producing toxic effects in the brain.”(7)
5- Inflamed tattoo’s may cause hypercalcemia and sarcoidosis. (8)
6- The skin is the largest organ of the body. Scientist believe tattoo ink is a known carcinogen.(9) This means that cancer can be injected into your skin. Studies confirm that nanoparticles of titanium dioxide and carbon black are toxic.
7- Reactions to Tattoos’ can pose a health risk to the skin when exposed to UVA rays.(11) The introduction of foreign substances into the skin can result in a toxic or immunologic response. In addition to the transmission of infectious disease, reactions to tattoo pigments have also been a concern. These reactions include acute inflammatory reaction, allergic hypersensitivity, and granulomatous, lichenoid, and pseudolymphomatous types of histopathologic reactions. Localization of skin disease in tattoos has also been documented.(12)
8-The liver can become inflamed when receiving a tattoo playing a causative roll in Hepatitis B and C. (13)
9- Finally, among those coincidental lesions reported are B cell lymphoma, melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.(14)
Now that you know there are several health consequences that can potentially harm your organs when receiving a tattoo, would you still want one? Is this the intelligent thing to do? Please feel free to comment-
Author- Connie Rogers is a Integrative Nutritional Holistic Health Coach, a Skin Health Teacher for 37 years, an Expert in Toxins that can Disrupt our Skin, Metabolic & Endocrine Health and Owner of www.bitesizepieces.net
Footnotes:
1-http://www.statisticbrain.com/tattoo-statistics/
2-http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045%2806%2970651-9/fulltext
3-http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1155367/Wow-You-need-BIZARRE-tattoos-display-Brazil.html
4-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3966813
5–http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3966813/#pone.0092787-Schlager1
6–http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2083627/
7-http://drlwilson.com/ARTICLES/TATOOS.htm
8- http://www.sarcoidosis-sarcoid.com/2012/03/tattoo-reactions-as-sign-of-sarcoidosis.html
9-http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2428867/Could-tattoo-cancer-Scientists-fear-toxins-ink-enter-blood-accumulate-major-organs.html
10–http://apo.org.au/commentary/nanoparticles-tattoo-ink
11- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20545755
12-http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1124433-overview
13-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23315899
14-dermatlas.med.jhmi.edu/derm/result.cfm?OutputSet=4&BO=AND&Diagnosis=64
Connie believes health and wellness are established with proper nutrition, fitness, and mindfulness. Connie takes a natural and holistic, common sense approach to rebuilding well-being from the ground up. As she works with each client, together they open a door that empowers them to rewrite their life, one bite size step at a time!
