The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) are assessing the risk tattoo inks and permanent makeup may pose to human health.

“Due to the lack of information on tattoo inks and permanent make-up, the European Commision has asked ECHA to assess the risks of the substances in tattoo inks on human health and to examine the need for EU wide restrictions on their use” explains ECHA.

Tattoo inks and permanent make-up may contain hazardous substances that are known or suspected to cause cancer, genetic mutations, toxic effects on reproduction, allergies or other adverse effects in animals or humans.

Due to the lack of information on tattoo inks and permanent make-up, the European Commission has asked ECHA to assess the risks of the substances in tattoo inks on human health and to examine the need for EU-wide restrictions on their use. The regulatory body says it is looking into the risks of currently used inks and also considering safer alternatives.

There isn’t any specific EU-wide legislation in place, but Member States have developed their own laws based on the 2008 Council of Europe resolution on the safety of tattoos and permanent make-up or its 2003 predecessor. Apart from that, tattoo inks are covered by the General Product Safety Directive in terms of the manufacturers’ obligation not to provide an unsafe product; the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation in terms of labelling products that contain classified substances in excess of their classification limits; and REACH in terms of registration requirements and information provision.

As many of the hazardous substances may be present in tattoo inks or permanent make-up in small quantities, the obligations under CLP and REACH may not apply.

For the full article visit the ECHA website: https://echa.europa.eu/hot-topics/tattoo-inks