Photo Credit: skynesher

The following is a summary of “Tattoo ink products and pigments 2018-19 upfront the new EUREACH regulation: Danish golden benchmark Study of 108 studios and 39687 clients tattooed with inks from 109720 ink bottles,” published in the January 2025 issue of Dermatology by Serup et al. 

The implementation of the new EU regulation on tattoo inks in January 2022 signified a historical shift in a previously unregulated market.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to map the thousands of tattoo inks used in studios before the new EU regulation and establish a historical reference for customer exposure, ink toxicology assessment, clinical complications, and the impact on tattooing businesses.  

They have used an electronic tattooist-operated system (InkBase) in Denmark since 2018 for ink registration as required by law. A local database in studios linked to a central database was employed. Information about clients, sessions, ink bottles, brand names, and pigment color index (CI) was registered while ensuring data protection. The system enabled the tracking of harmful inks with public warnings.  

The results showed that data from 108 studios employing 700 tattooists were collected from March 2018 to 2019. A total of 39,687 clients received tattoos in 50,604 sessions, using colors from 109,720 ink bottles. Of these, 10,833 inks were CI-labeled, identifying the pigment. Approximately 98.1% of inks were sourced from the USA. Detailed statistics revealed a preference for “old” tattoo inks, establishing a benchmark prior to the EU regulation imposing strict and challenging restrictions.  

Investigators concluded that Denmark, with its detailed ink registration system and central server reporting, could serve as a model country for future surveillance of tattoo ink use, toxicology, and regulatory impact, based on data collected in 2018-19. 

Source: karger.com/drm/article/doi/10.1159/000543455/918964/Tattoo-ink-products-and-pigments-2018-19-upfront