connection between alergy to red tattoo ink and alergy to shellfish?

Question

there is a rare alergy that some people have to red tattoo ink known as the "red reaction". it is my understanding that the red pigment is made from a kind of crustation. i have always wondered if there was a connection between the two. as a tattoo artist i run into this so rarely and i just recently had this idea. has anyone here had the "red reaction"?

Answer 1

The responses are incorrect on many accounts. Just because you read it on the Internet does not make it true.

Most metal allergies, by the way, have to do with nickel and are not related to tattoo ink allergies at all.

Red tattoo ink is not make from shell fish and I will leave it at that. I cannot possibly give a color class on this forum.

Answer 2

It is pretty much a waste of time to do these skin tests. First, you cannot be allergic to something you have never been exposed to. Given that, it would take a minimum of 7-10 days for a reaction to develop. A dot of red is extremely unlikely to predict a possible reaction down the road besides. Tattoo allergies are rare.

Answer 3

the reaction to red tattoo ink is because ink colors are made with metal and red is the color that most people are allergic to. my friend had a reaction to hers because she is allergic to metals.

Answer 4

Most all of the pigments are made from metals, this list details the common pigments used for each color by most manufacturers of tattoo inks:

BLACK: made of iron oxides, carbon, or logwood. "Natural black pigment is made from magnetite crystals, powdered jet, wustite, bone black,and amorphous carbon from combustion (soot). Black pigment is commonly made into India ink. Logwood is a heartwood extract from Haematoxylon campechisnum, found in Central America and the West Indies."

BROWNS, FLESHTONES: made of ochre. "Ochre is composed of iron (ferric) oxides mixed with clay. Raw ochre is yellowish. When dehydrated through heating, ochre changes to a reddish color."

RED: made of cinnabar, cadmium red, iron oxide, or napthol. "Iron oxide is also known as common rust. Cinnabar and cadmium pigments are highly toxic. Napthol reds are synthesized from Naptha. Fewer reactions have been reported with naphthol red than the other pigments, but all reds carry risks of allergic or other reactions."

ORANGE: made of disazodiarylide, disazopyrazolone, or cadmium seleno-sulfide. "The organics are formed from the condensation of 2 monoazo pigment molecules. They are large molecules with good thermal stability and colorfastness."

YELLOW: made of cadmium yellow, ochres, curcuma yellow, chrome yellow, or disazodiarylide. "Curcuma is derived from plants of the ginger family; aka tumeric or curcurmin. Reactions are commonly associated with yellow pigments, in part because more pigment is needed to achieve a bright color."

GREEN: made of chromium oxide ("Casalis Green" or "Anadomis Green"), Malachite, Ferrocyanides, Ferricyanides, Lead chromate, Monoazo pigment, Cu/Al phthalocyanine, or Cu phthalocyanine. "The greens often include admixtures, such as potassium ferrocyanide (yellow or red) and ferric ferrocyanide (Prussian Blue)."

BLUE: made of azure blue, cobalt blue, or Cu-phtalocyanine. "Blue pigments from minerals include copper (II) carbonate (azurite), sodium aluminum silicate (lapis lazuli), calcium copper silicate (Egyptian Blue), other cobalt aluminum oxides and chromium oxides. The safest blues and greens are copper salts, such as copper pthalocyanine. Copper pthalocyanine pigments have FDA approval for use in infant furniture and toys and contact lenses. The copper-based pigments are considerably safer or more stable than cobalt or ultramarine pigments."

VIOLET: made of manganese violet (manganese ammonium pyrophosphate), quinacridone, dioxazine/carbazole, and various aluminum salts. "Some of the purples, especially the bright magentas, are photoreactive and lose their color after prolonged exposure to light. Dioxazine and carbazole result in the most stable purple pigments."

WHITE: made of lead white (lead carbonate), titanium dioxide, barium sulfate, or zinc oxide. "Some white pigments are derived from anatase or rutile. White pigment may be used alone or to dilute the intensity of other pigments. Titanium oxides are one of the least reactive white pigments."



Basically it isn't just red even though that is the most common color to cause allergic reactions. A person can be allergic to any color if they are allergic to the pigments used in those colors. Yellows and oranges are also as common as red reactions, and so is blue. It is rare though that someone is allergic to tattoo ink severe enough to need to have the tattoo removed, usually it flares up like seasonal allergies do and antihistimine creams by prescription can be very helpful in aiding the person to keep the tattoo. Although these allergies can become more severe over the years even with antihistimine cream treatment.


A little extra information written by Albert Jeffers:
"Most tattoo pigments are made from metal salts, that is oxidizing certain metals and elements to produce a color change. Ever see the copper roof on a church turn green? Well, if you have any green or blue in your body, it comes from copper. The only safe greens and blues on the market are made this way, cobalt being too toxic, and ultramarine unstable. These are called Copper Pthalocyanine pigments, painters and other craftsmen may be familiar with these pigments. Pthalocyanine pigments are approved by the FDA for use in contact lenses, surgical implants, and paint for infant furniture.
The other pigments considered very safe are Black, most commonly Carbon Black, or Bone Black, which is India Ink, made from burning animal bones or kerosene, and collecting the soot. Purple/Violet, which is dioxazine/carbazole violet, yellows of the Arylide type, Napthol red , based on the solvent Naptha. Reds based on other materials may or may not cause scarring and reaction. Magenta is safe, but generally considered less lightfast and more unstable than other pigments. Oranges are considered safe, as are Zinc and Titanium white, Titanium being the superior white. Browns, even though they are often based on Oxides of Iron are also considered safe.

Keep in mind that many reds are questionable, often causing burning, scarring, or rashes. While this is rare, many reds can cause serious damage, especially those made from Oxides of Iron, and Mercury. Cinnabar reds cause reactions and scarring in a high proportion of the tattooed population.
These are considered very unsafe and I've heard doctors advise patients to have the pigment removed after biopsy was performed.

Yellow is generally a safe pigment, but when used in high concentration, may burn and scar due to a change in PH under the skin. Yellow has always been a problem pigment, due to the fact that cutting the pigment load causes a lighter, more washed out hue. "



Reading this stuff can almost make someone scared to get a tattoo huh? lol