Tattoo Ink Moves Through the Body, Killing Immune Cells and Weakening Vaccine Response

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: msn/Bloomberg

7h


Tattoo ink doesn’t just sit inertly in the skin. New research shows it moves rapidly into the lymphatic system, where it can persist for months, kill immune cells, and even disrupt how the body responds to vaccines.

Scientists in Switzerland used a mouse model to trace what happens after tattooing. Pigments drained into nearby lymph nodes within minutes and continued to accumulate for two months, triggering immune-cell death and sustained inflammation. The ink also weakened the antibody response to Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s Covid vaccine when the shot was administered in tattooed skin. In contrast, the same inflammation appeared to boost responses to an inactivated flu vaccine.

The findings, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, sharpen a public-health question as tattooing becomes mainstream. A 2023 Pew Research survey estimated that 32% of US adults have at least one tattoo, and 22% have multiple.

With billions spent on tattoos each year, the authors at Università della Svizzera italiana in Bellinzona say the results point to a need for tougher toxicology testing and stricter oversight of tattoo-ink ingredients, which face far looser regulation than medical products.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/tattoo-ink-moves-through-the-body-killing-immune-cells-and-weakening-vaccine-response/ar-AA1Rl4ks

[tanyev]

1. And how many howling anti-vaxxers think nothing of loading up their bodies with tattoo ink?

[IronLionZion]

3. We may have fewer of them eventually

[Bayard]

2. Doesn't sound good for the walking billboards

[BWdem4life]

8. unrec

[LisaM]

4. My cousin's husband died from lymphoma.

They both are/were pretty heavily tatted up. I personally don't care for tattoos and don't have any, so this news affects me only in the sense that it could harm people I care about. I certainly won't mention this to her, but I hope she at least sees it.

I don't know what the regulations are for tattoo ink but it's always seemed strange to me to want to inject your skin with high amounts of a permanent foreign substance.

[ananda]

22. Same boat.

In college, I had a professor
who wrote a book on the psychology of why
people get tattoos.

I read it and it was very interesting, but I
don't remember it at all.

I never even had a remote interest in getting
tattooed.

But my niece got tattooed, and they are works
of art and really enhance her beauty. However,
I've never been happy with it because I've always
had a distrust about putting ink in my body.

This kind of verifies my distrust.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

26. Do you recall the professor's name?

I'd love to read that book.

[ananda]

28. Here's all I could find.

His name is Walter O'Connell.

But I can't find the book on tattoos anywhere.

I do remember it was interesting, but I read
it a way long time ago, in college.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

33. Hmmm, there are books out there with tattoo designs

by a Mitch O'Connell.

I cannot find any book out there just about tattoos, darn.

[ananda]

35. It was definitely Walter O'Connell.

He was my psychology professor junior year
in college (I needed an easy elective).

The book was in the school library so I
checked it out and read it.

That's all I remember.

But you might be able to find it through ILL
somewhere.

[OnlinePoker]

5. I enjoy seeing a well done tattoo

But too many of what I see now are trashtoos. They look like the tattooist just did random doodles on a person's arms. Just ugly.

[JohnnyRingo]

6. Somebody start a Go Fund Me for Jelly Roll!

He can be the canary in the coal mine for my grandkids.

[BWdem4life]

7. Most ppl who get tattoos probably don't give a damn

I know I don't...

[JoseBalow]

11. Thug lyfe

[niyad]

40. Soooo, neither she nor the artist can spell???

[Gimpyknee]

9. Good news! Hegseth has a lot of tattoos.

[Maj. Dude]

10. Was he,

The lab rat?

[littlemissmartypants]

17. DUzy!! 🏆🏅

[LetMyPeopleVote]

21. This makes me smile

[FirstLight]

12. Well, hell ..

I have autoimmune stuff and got my first tattoo 2022... Loved it so much i got 2 more.. my ankle, mid calf, and top near my knee...
And I was so excited when my psoriasis went into remission and I could finally get a tattoo!

Now I don't feel good 😬

[bucolic_frolic]

13. Driven by the industry for financial gain

Does the immune fallout affect the brain? The liver has to deal with all that and everything's connected to the intake-throughput system, vagus nerve to the skull.

[Old Crank]

14. Europe has banned certain ingredients

And certain colour's under older formulations. That cuts down on US use since a lot of ink is from Europe.

I think it is a stupid idea but not my call.

[BidenRocks]

15. I am a liberal, but...

when I see a pretty gal all inked up, tramp stamped or with her current bf name on their neck, I only imagine the retirement home full of saggy ink. I never comment out loud.

I will never understand it and don't care to.

You do you, but don't expect a truthful reaction from me.

Like graffiti, tat art is lost on me.

[valleyrogue]

30. I work in the schools. I am by far the oldest person there at 70,

and just about everybody I work with has tattoos. Not just one or two that are discreet, but many of the women have tattoos all over their arms and their legs. It always reminds me of Groucho Marx singing, "Lydia the Tattooed Lady."

They are disgusting.

[BidenRocks]

32. I'm also 70 and I see more older women

with a lot of large tats.

The nudist resort was one way to see who has ink.
Unfortunately they closed.

When we grew up it was sailors and bikers.
Times change.

[Grins]

43. My fav line...

“You used to have to slip a guy a quarter to get into a tent at a Carny to see tattoos.”

[ForgoTheConsequence]

47. It's a good thing those "pretty gals" you're glaring at don't get them for you.

[twodogsbarking]

16. Can't say what I would do if I were 18 so I won't say what they should do.

I lived through individual acts of stupidity so I won't judge either. Not calling anyone stupid.

[COL Mustard]

18. Mom told me not to get...

That naked lady tattoo. Guess I shoulda listened!!!

[relayerbob]

19. No surprise there

I already dislike tattoos, this just reinforces why they are dumb, IMO.

[chia]

20. One of my kids has tattoos, so I'll pass on this info, thanks. No thanks to the judgmental commenters in this thread.

[barbtries]

25. My son, my grandson, my ex DIL,

my granddaughter, me...I just got my most recent tattoo in 2025. I have 5 in total.

this is slightly worrisome but I love my tattoos.

my last one is a sunrise inspired by my Sep2025 trip to Hawaii and under it the words
Love
Justice
Equality
Freedom

The rest memorialize all of the most loved people in my life, in other words, my 4 children and my 3 grandchildren.

except the 1st one, which I waited until I was 34 years old because when I first wanted a tattoo at the age of 17 I feared I would regret it down the line.

My son is very heavily tattooed and his ex wife is as well.

so far so healthy. it's a done thing so we'll just have to see if it causes trouble going forward but there's no going back and I personally do not have a regret.

[luv2fly]

31. Doesn't take much for the judgmental folks to show themselves does it?

Whether it be fat shaming, fashion criticisms or now tattooes, they come out in droves. I suspect they are all gorgeous specimens with designer wardrobes, but that's just a guess 🙄

[LisaM]

46. In what universe is it the same as fat-shaming?

Tattoos are entirely by choice. It's like wearing bumper stickers. The people who get them are inviting commentary.

[Stacey Grove]

23. Ya think?

Elective skin damage be like that.

[pattyloutwo]

24. Been waiting for this to come out

It just makes sense… the inks have heavy metals and terrible stuff. I hope they die out like cigarettes have

[valleyrogue]

27. It is a mystery to me why anybody gets tattoos, especially women.

I have always regarded them as hideous. The claim they may not be all that healthy doesn't surprise me.

[Ms. Toad]

37. I don't have any - but I'm considering one.

I have a large (2" x 3&quot skin graft on my forearm - from removal of a cancerous tumor. Most people I know with similar scars hide them. I don't. But I am considering getting a tattoo of a sunflower, using the graft as the center of the sunflower

[niyad]

41. I know a number of people who have gotten tattoos for that exact reason.

[sellitman]

29. My Mother use to say...

Don't wear anything you wouldn't proudly display over your fireplace.

[Strelnikov_]

34. 'Becomes' ?

[NBachers]

36. I don't have any tattoos; If I ever get some, I think that would signal the demise of the entire tattoo craze.

"If that guy's got one, they can't be cool anymore."

[YoshidaYui]

38. If this is true why aren't Yakuza

Dropping like bugs after a good spray ???

[Alice B.]

39. This is good to know and important research for many to follow.

I have several, somewhat discreetly located (depending on dress or whether I turn an arm this way or that. They were acquired over the course of nearly 30 years. Most commemorate things that aren't here any more. All are personal to me and ways of carrying things with me.

Nearly all give me great joy to look at. One, one of my first, didn't come out the way I hoped. As I said to an artist recently (who's also an ER nurse, btw), it doesn't actively bother me, however. I've had it so long, it's just another part of me. I'd consider a coverup on it if I could figure out what I want. It's not a burning need.

Tattoos are not everyone's cup of tea and that's fine. There are plenty of things that aren't mine. I just try very hard not to express my personal distaste in public and unkindly. Someone wrote upthread about things you'd hang over a mantle, which is kind of like things you'd say directly to someone, especially a stranger's face.

That said, this essay and reader comments may be illuminating. Recently from the Oldster Substack. Sari Bottom writes (and hopefully I did this right):

"a moving essay by Catherine Gigante-Brown about her assorted tattoos, what prompted her to get each one, and why the tattoo she recently got for her 66th birthday will, sadly, most likely be her final one.

... It’s a poignant story that gets at something I very much relate to: how powerful it can be to mark an occasion by literally marking yourself. It’s a very particular way of declaring something about yourself, or your intentions—to both yourself, and the world.

I thought it might be a good Friday Open Thread topic to prompt all of you with. In the comments please tell us:

How old are you? Do you have tattoos? How many? At what ages did you get them? Describe them. What was the emotional impact of getting them? Did they shift something for you, internally? Did you catch any flack for getting them? Are there any you regret? Have you ever had a regrettable tattoo covered up, or lasered off?"

https://oldster.substack.com/p/my-last-tattoo

[niyad]

42. I have several friends, including women my age, who are rather heavily inked.

And some of the tats are rather interesting. Even the one a young friend has all over his bald head. They see them as art and self-expression. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder", after all.

I will say, though, that I am glad somebody is studying the inks, though. I have wondered about them for a very long time, given my weird sensitivities.

[kellytore]

44. I am 68 and back in the 1960's and 70's

My dad owned a cigarette vending company. I never smoked even though most of my family and friends did. When folks ask me why I never started the habit I tell them that even though there were no serious warnings about the danger of smoking it was just common sense to me that you don't inhale smoke. I have said the same thing about tattoos for the last 30 years. There might not be any serious warnings out there about tattoos but common sense tells me that shooting ink from who knows where into your skin might not be good for you.

[live love laugh]

45. Good to know. I have one: Faith / fear ... I got it bc of the regime.

It’s a comforting reminder and I have no desire to get any more. This does make me wonder though about the impact on heavy vs. minimal tattooing.