allergic reaction to tattoo pigments in brands of green???

Question

i've heard that you can have an allergic reaction to certain brands of red and green ink because of certain metals found in the ink. does anyone know what metals those are that are found in the green? and what brand it is, or if there is another brand you could use.

Allergic reactions to tattoo pigments are uncommon except for certain brands of red and green. People who are sensitive or allergic to certain METALS may react to pigments in the skin with swelling and/or itching, and/or oozing of clear fluid called sebum. Such reactions are quite rare, however, and some artists will recommend performing a test patch.

Answer 1

I have talked about patch testing before. It is relatively useless unless you have had that ink before. Furthermore, you can become allergic to something in your tattoo at any point down the road, generally after 6 months or so.

Regarding any particular colored ink, there is not a lot of variation from one manufacturer to the next. Traditionally ink manufacturers are not going to divulge their ingredients because they have this fear they are all going to get "riipped off". Whatever. There are only so many powder suppliers out there so pretty much they are all buying the same things. There is no mystery to it.

Pigments are largely organic and inorganic with bright colors being primarily organic. Greens can be chromium oxide, to many other color additives depending on the nature of the green as well as admixtures.

Think about how many shades of green are in a 120 box of colored pencils! Some have more yellow, some more blue. You won't get the answer you are looking for.

If you really want to be on the side of caution you will have to select a tattoo artist and pick out a green that you want or that he/she will recommend. Have that adequately tattooed in for a skin test. Then go back in 6 months and have it tattooed again to see if it reacts. Even then, it is a huge crap shoot. You have to also be very certain he/she saves that same pigment bottle for you.

All can be fine and suddenly you over expose yourself to the sun and along comes an ink reaction. This is the nature of the art. It is what it is.

Answer 2

i'm not sure about allergic reactions due to the metals but i have heard that red is usually the most irritating to the skin. not too sure why. i have green ink in one of my stars and it was actually the only one that did not get infected when i had an allergic reaction to the ointment they sold me.