So the new year is upon us (2018) and already we have our first tattoo ink recall from the European Commission Product Recall System.
This time the offender is non other than Intenze Lining Black. The site states that this ink poses a chemical risk as detailed below :
'The product contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)s, including benzo(a)pyrene (measured values: benzo(a)pyrene: 0.2 mg/kg; total of PAHs: 42.5 mg/kg).
Some PAHs are carcinogenic, including benzo(a)pyrene.'
The level of PAHs and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) exceed what the EU allow in any cosmetics (what tattoo inks fall under) and poses a threat to humans.
The batch of ink this was found in is :
Batch: BK135JMX40; Lot: SS 250; Exp. 1/31/2022
This can be found on the bottle label.
Full details can be found here :
It really bugs me that large brands like Intenze don't check their products and distribute inks that aren't fit for tattooers to use. We put our faith in them to deliver safe products but we keep on getting recalls from the EU but looking at the Intenze site there's nothing about the recall there, really they should be on this kind of thing, alert the suppliers they sent their product too and in turn have the tattooists who purchased this product contacted.
If you know any tattooists please link them or alert them so they can make sure they don't have this batch of Intenze ink on their shelves.
Let's keep tattooing safe!