Tattoo artists are currently without colors because the old ones can no longer use them. As of yesterday, thousands of chemicals in tattoo inks across the EU are subject to the restrictions imposed by the so-called Reach Regulation.
For tattoo artist and petition initiator Erich Mähnert this amounts to “practically a professional ban”, currently he cannot do any color tattoos, says the deputy guild master at the Chamber of Commerce in Vienna. The corresponding petition with around 176,000 signatures has so far been unsuccessful.
Many of the 4,000 or so substances are potentially dangerous or not adequately researched from the EU’s point of view. The ban was decided in 2020, the transition period is now running out. According to the EU Commission, the goal is not to ban tattoos in principle. The European Chemicals Agency emphasizes that it is about “making tattoo inks and permanent make-up safer”. Next year there will be further restrictions – then the two color pigments “Blue 15: 3” and “Green 7”, which are contained in two thirds of all tattoo inks, will also be affected.
“Based on the current data, I cannot speak out in good conscience in favor of a ban or further approval,” said dermatologist Andras Csehfür from the Dermacare Institute in Vienna. In the spring he called for “many more studies”.
Risk of causing an allergy
The German dermatologist Christoph Liebich, however, thinks the step to ban many of the substances it contains is “perfectly right”. Because many tattoo inks on the market are not demonstrably harmless. “Many have never been tested in clinical studies. That means that tattoo dyes always have a high risk of triggering an allergy, and there is also the risk of cancer developing,” warned the German dermatologist.
Officially, around 1,400 tattooists and pigmenters in Austria are affected by the new regulation. In this country, one in four people is already tattooed. Ten percent could already be “decorated” several times. The trend is still rising sharply.
Source: Nachrichten
