title: Formation of highly toxic hydrogen cyanide upon ruby laser irradiation of the tattoo pigment phthalocyanine blue.
abstract: Since laser treatment of tattoos is the favored method for the removing of no longer wanted permanent skin paintings, analytical, biokinetics and toxicological data on the fragmentation pattern of commonly used pigments are urgently required for health safety reasons. Applying dynamic headspace-gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (DHS-GC/MS) and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GCxGC-ToF-MS), we identified 1,2-benzene dicarbonitrile, benzonitrile, benzene, and the poisonous gas hydrogen cyanide (HCN) as main fragmentation products emerging dose-dependently upon ruby laser irradiation of the popular blue pigment copper phthalocyanine in suspension. Skin cell viability was found to be significantly compromised at cyanide levels of ≥1 mM liberated during ruby laser irradiation of >1.5 mg/ml phthalocyanine blue. Further, for the first time we introduce pyrolysis-GC/MS as method suitable to simulate pigment fragmentation that may occur spontaneously or during laser removal of organic pigments in the living skin of tattooed people. According to the literature such regular tattoos hold up to 9 mg pigment/cm(2) skin.
authors.affiliation: German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Department of Chemical and Product Safety, Max-Dohrn-Strasse 8-10, 10589 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schreiver
authors.affiliation: German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Department of Chemical and Product Safety, Max-Dohrn-Strasse 8-10, 10589 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hutzler
authors.affiliation: German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Department of Chemical and Product Safety, Max-Dohrn-Strasse 8-10, 10589 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Laux
authors.affiliation: Evangelical Elisabeth Hospital, Department of Laser Medicine, Lützowstrasse 24-26, 10785 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Berlien
authors.affiliation: German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Department of Chemical and Product Safety, Max-Dohrn-Strasse 8-10, 10589 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Luch
mesh_terms: D002460:Cell Line; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D006801:Humans; D006856:Hydrogen Cyanide / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity; D007211:Indoles / Q000737:chemistry*; D007700:Kinetics; D053844:Lasers, Solid-State; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D013653:Tattooing
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D007211:Indoles; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D006856:Hydrogen Cyanide; C015445:copper phthalocyanine