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Basel and Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Tests completed on 152 tattooing products “show clearly that manufacturers and users are not adequately respecting safety standards,” Bern said in a press release Monday 13 July. Forty percent of the samples are being banned from use as a result of the findings.

Government laboratories have completed tests on products used in tattooing in 16 cantons and Liechtenstein: only 21 percent, or 32 of them, passed safety standards established in January 2008. The standards cover microbiological purity, chemical composition as well as the quality of the tattoos’ colours from a safety perspective. Most of the shortcomings are linked to the chemical composition and labeling of products. The tests check conservation agents, colouring agents as well as scents. They also review sterilization quality and check labels, which should list the products’ compositions, use-by dates and the lot numbers.

The majority of products failing the standards tests had inadequate labling, although a high number did not meet sterilization tests. But the lab tests also showed that 62 of the products contained banned substances, mostly either colouring or conservation agents, although 10 were found to contain cancerogenic scents or nitrosamines. Bern notes that there is a risk the products will cause cancer in the longer term or may provoke allergies.

The government will now meet with representatives of the tattooing business to determine how to ensure safety standards are met, but it strongly recommends that anyone getting a tattoo first see a doctor to check for possible allergic reactions.

Government safety recommendations for tattooing, piercing, in French (pdf)