Hygiene respected in a tattoo office does not guarantee an absence of bacterial contamination! This can be found directly in unopened tattoo and permanent makeup ink, warns a study of the American Society for Microbiology published in the journal Applied and environmental microbiology.
These bacteria can be both aerobic (grow in the presence of oxygen), anaerobic (grow in its absence) and facultative anaerobic (can live in the presence and absence of oxygen). These three types of bacteria can thrive under the epidermis.
These bacteria thrive under the epidermis
To achieve this observation, the researchers promoted the growth of these three types of bacteria on nutrient culture media and then incubated these media according to three groups: under oxygen, under little oxygen and under a quantity of atmospheric oxygen.
The identification of the bacteria was carried out by harvesting the bacterial DNA then by multiplying the DNA strands using the PCR technique (which consists of, after extraction of the DNA, to multiply its strands using an enzyme capable of copying the genetic material to obtain numerous copies of DNA).
Once a sufficient number of DNA samples were reached, the researchers proceeded to sequence the gene encoding the RNA of the small subunit of the ribosome 16S, an RNA highly conserved over time and present in all living beings possessing ribosomes (read the box below). Computer software was then able to identify the different taxa (genus, family, species, subspecies, etc.).
The ribosome is a particle allowing the formation of proteins from messenger RNA.
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Among the contaminated inks, 5 are French
Of 75 ink samples from 14 American manufacturers, 26 were contaminated with 22 different bacterial species and eight of them were identified as potentially pathogenic. These infections can range from a simple reaction requiring treatment to septic shock (widespread infection causing organ failure and dangerously low blood pressure) due to the presence of bacteria in the blood vessels.
France is not spared: five contaminated inks tested and sold in the United States originate in France, and one of them contains one of the highest levels of contamination!
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“In Europe, 80% ink is contaminated with bacteria”
Of all the taxa, the most present is Staphylococcus (Staphylococcus species. ), responsible for infections of varying degrees (such as abscess or toxic shock). He is followed by Cultibacterium acnes (which disrupts the skin microbiome and is responsible for infections like acne) then Sphingomonas paucimobilis (pathogen responsible for many infections such as peritonitis).
This study raises the question of the effectiveness of sterilization in ink manufacturing plants. The presence of bacterial contamination in inks is not uncommon: “in Europe, 80% ink is contaminated with bacteria” and “permanent makeup ink contains more bacterial contamination than tattoo ink”, write the researchers, who nevertheless want to be reassuring: “only 0.5 % to 6 % of tattooed people experience a microbial infection”.
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