Bioanalytical evidence that chemicals in tattoo ink can induce adaptive stress responses.
Tattooing is becoming increasingly popular, particularly amongst young people. However, tattoo inks contain a complex mixture of chemical impurities that may pose a long-term risk for human health. As a first step towards the risk assessment of these complex mixtures we propose to assess the toxicological hazard potential of tattoo ink chemicals with cell-based bioassays. Targeted modes of toxic action and cellular endpoints included cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and adaptive stress response pathways. The studied tattoo inks, which were extracted with hexane as a proxy for the bioavailable fraction, caused effects in all bioassays, with the red and yellow tattoo inks having the greatest response, particularly inducing genotoxicity and oxidative stress response endpoints. Chemical analysis revealed the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the tested black tattoo ink at concentrations twice the recommended level. The detected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons only explained 0.06% of the oxidative stress response of the black tattoo ink, thus the majority of the effect was caused by unidentified components. The study indicates that currently available tattoo inks contain components that induce adaptive stress response pathways, but to evaluate the risk to human health further work is required to understand the toxicokinetics of tattoo ink chemicals in the body.
The University of Queensland, National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia. Electronic address: p.neale@griffith.edu.au.
Peta A
PA
Neale
The University of Queensland, National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia.
Daniel
D
Stalter
The University of Queensland, National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia.
Janet Y M
JYM
Tang
The University of Queensland, National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (Entox), Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia.
Beate I
BI
Escher
D048908:Aliivibrio fischeri / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D001681:Biological Assay; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D045325:HCT116 Cells; D006801:Humans; D007281:Ink; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D018336:Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon / Q000378:metabolism; D013014:SOS Response, Genetics / Q000187:drug effects; D013653:Tattooing; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics
D004396:Coloring Agents; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D018336:Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon; C495901:TP53 protein, human; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53
Bioanalytical tools; Cytotoxicity; Genotoxicity; Oxidative stress; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon; Tattoo ink