Tattoo Safety & HygieneFact 1: Myobacterium Chelonace - Can cause lung disease. Joint infection, eye problems and other organ infections that can be difficult to diagnose and can require treatment lasting six months or more caused by contaminated ink. Fact 2: The Public Health Act 2012 and Public Health Regulation 2012 regulates body deecorating and grooming practices carried out by people who are not registered as health professionals. Fact 3: Tattoo parlors are regulated by Country Board of Health. |
General Procedure
Tattoos are currently created by the injection of various colors into the second layer of the skin, called the dermis. The process involves color absorption by the skin. After tattoo pigment is injected into the skin phagocytes, or "drinking cells" are activated in the dermis and epidermis and "swallow" the injected colors. During this process the skin layers become damaged, but the healing of the damaged layers causes the skin to flake, which causes the ink on the surface of the skin to fade away. However, the deeper layers of skin begin to form granulation tissue (cells that allow wounds to heal) that is then converted into connective tissue, which allows the pigment to be permanently absorbed into the skin. Unlike in tribal societies, modern tattoo artists have the advantage of using electrical equipment when performing the tattoo procedure. This evolution in the tattoo culture has allowed for quicker, more hygienic, and more aesthetically pleasing tattoos. The machines used to create tattoos today consist of a group of needles that are anchored onto a bar that allows the needles to rapidly move up and down at speeds that are probably unattainable by hand. The ink inside the needles is injected in and out of the skin repeatedly until the entire tattoo is completed. It has been estimated that these needles can move at speeds between 80 and 150 times in a second. Today, with advances such as these, and steadily increasing innovation in the tattoo medium, tattoos have far surpassed the appearances of their origin.
Tat Stats
- In 1991, a 5,000 year-old frozen man was discovered and scientists found a total of 57 different tattoos on his well preserved body.
- In the late 19th and early 20th century tattoos were very fashionable among the aristocrats, which included women, to be tattooed. During this time, tattoos were very expensive and people paid large sums for their designs. However, the cost of tattoos was reduced and tattooing became adopted by lower class people and the tattoo soon became trashy.
