Tag Archives: colour safety

EU ban on coloured tattoo ink

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The European Chemicals Agency (ECA) have announced bans on certain coloured tattoo inks from January 2022.

Tattoo inks and permanent make-up often contain hazardous substances that cause skin allergies and may even be carcinogenic. Ink pigments can also migrate from the skin to the lymph nodes and the liver. Even the removal of tattoos can be dangerous because the laser that is used may break down the pigments into smaller substances which may themselves be dangerous.

Safer alternatives are not available for two particular pigments: Pigment Blue 15:3 and Pigment Green 7. These pigments are both copper complexes and are also known as Phthalocyanine Blue and Phthalocyanine Green. The ban will be enforced by Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) who may give ink manufacturers a year to find safe alternatives for these two coloured inks according to some reports. Some people doubt whether the restrictions are really necessary and here is a video from the perspective of a tattoo artist. And here is an open letter of concern from the European Society of Tattoo and Pigment Research.

There is a need for more research and a greater understanding of the effect of these tattoo inks on the body and especially the long-term effects.

white taxis

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In 2009 I blogged about a row in Derby about the yellow colour of taxis. But times change. Things move on, Today I am reading about a problem in Durham – for those who don’t know, Durham is in the north-east of England – about white taxis!! Apparently, this week ten drivers stormed out of a meeting with councillors over a proposal to adopt a policy for all-white colour taxis in the county of Durham. The argument for white taxis is that it would make them stand out and ensure that customers knew which taxis were legitimate. Sounds pretty sensible to me. It would work because white is a very unpopular colour for cars in the UK. I have heard that second-hand car salesmen refer to white as six-week white because it takes 6 weeks longer to sell a white car than other coloured cars. Whereas in other parts of the world, I have noticed in my travels that white cars are quite popular. Perhaps there is a business opportunity here – to export the unpopular white cars to places where they may sell for a premium.