EU tattooists fear that new EU red tape laws will destroy their business. They ban the majority of their inks.
The bloc’s flagship REACH chemicals regulation will ban the use of more than 4,000 chemicals starting January 4.
Some of the banned chemicals found in tattoo inks are toxic, according to EU. They can cause cancer and genetic mutations.

EU tattooists fear that new EU red-tape laws will destroy their business (file image).
Isopropanol alcohol is one of these. It is found in the majority of tattoo artists’ coloured pigments.
According to artists, the changes could cause a major disruption in Europe’s industry.
Fabrizio Funelli who owns the Funestik Tattoo Mania salon in Brussels stated that his tattoo pen is now illegal.
According to him, manufacturers have yet not provided adequate options and the ones that do exist may not be as long-lasting and vibrant.
He told Politico he may not be able to keep designing his trademark neo-Japanese tattoos from the New Year.
Customers who requested large or full sleeves tattoos have been turned down by others. This is because they may not be able to get replacement ink until January.
A petition urging the EU to ban two pigments in the new law Save the Pigments already has 170,000 signatures.
They say the new rules would ‘have a lasting negative impact on the economic competitiveness of European tattooists… and would seriously jeopardise the very existence of this profession.’
They also stated that “Consumers can switch providers to foreign providers or change to questionable providers.”

Some of the banned chemicals can cause cancer and genetic mutations, according to the EU.
Although some chemicals in tattoo ink are carcinogens, there is no consensus scientifically on the possibility that it can cause cancer.
Customers and tattooists agree that there are no risks to their clients.
Scientists have recently concluded that tattoos are a link to cancer. The long-term effects of this association, however, remain unknown.
Mark Blainey (expert at European Chemicals Agency, ECHA), stated that they want tattooing to be safer.
According to the agency there will be no significant economic effects on supply chains.
Blainey said that companies knew of the ban since a while and that they were allowed an extra twelve months to substitute the two green and blue pigments at the center of the petition.
In January 2023, they will be outlawed.
Marjorie Petit, who runs Duck Art Tattoo in Mechelen, Belgium, said: ‘We now every week get messages from manufacturers that they’re working on it, but the communication about that is not quite transparent.
‘So they say it’s coming, it’s coming… But when?’
A single ink supplier has a total number of 138 available pigments, but only seven of these are REACH-compliant. They all come from black, white, or grey.
The tattooists claim they are still unsure how these new rules will be applied and the possible consequences.