For tattoo Removal
L.A.
Invisibly inked
By GREGORY BROWN
Columbia News Service
NEW YORK - Dominique McDaniel's right arm looks normal enough: tan and lined
with light-blue veins. But when she moves a black light over her forearm, three
glowing stars emerge.
McDaniel stumbled into a culture she found fascinating one afternoon when she
was sitting in her mother's one-story ranch home outside New Orleans: the world
of UV tattoos - body art done in a reactive ink that appears invisible under
normal light and emerges under black lighting.
"I saw UV tattoos one day on television, on 'Ripley's Believe it or Not,' and
thought, 'Wow, that's really cool,' " said McDaniel, a student at Louisiana
State University who got her first tattoo when she was 18. "I started hanging
out at a local tattoo studio that made their own UV ink and became friends with
the owners."
Within months McDaniel was sporting a band of three stars on her right forearm
done entirely in white UV ink, and a tattoo on her wrist that has UV ink
accents, allowing the design to morph under black light.
The popularity of UV tattoos - also known as black-light tattoos - has
skyrocketed in recent years. Long found on the rave scene, the tattoos have
reached teenagers, body-art enthusiasts and people looking for a way to sport
tattoos in a discreet way.
However, safety concerns about UV tattoos abound. The chemical makeup of the
inks used has been questioned, individuals have reported skin rashes and
infections, and some scientists suspect the inks might be carcinogenic. Because
of these concerns, some tattoo artists will not work with UV inks.
Others have no qualms about inking black-light work. With no regulation over
what ink is safe, and with studios often concocting their own blends, it can be
hard to tell exactly what pulses through tattoo guns.
In the past, serious skin problems have resulted from the use of inks containing
phosphorous - a substance that can often cause the body to reject the ink.
Horror stories about UV tattoos turning brown after a few months or recipients
developing serious skin rashes have circulated for years.
Many of those fears are valid, according to Dr. Joshua Fox, a dermatologist in
New York who has treated people with skin rashes resulting from UV tattoos and
who is researching new techniques for tattoo removal.
"Statistically, there have been more reactions with UV tattoos than with normal
tattoos," Fox said. "Sometimes the inks don't mix as well, and your body reacts
against the foreign agents."
Fox added that despite the chemical advances with UV tattoos - mainly the
elimination of phosphorous in some inks - there will be no way to tell how safe
they are until the federal government starts regulating tattoos.
Some tattoo parlors advertise that they use UV ink approved by the Food and Drug
Administration. A dangerous caveat often goes unnoted, however. According to the
FDA, the most widely used UV inks are approved for use only as tracking liquids
to be injected into fish, not as tattoo ink for human body art.
