A workshop for artists was completely new in this year's programme. This was created together with international experts from various fields to give practical recommendations on unwanted skin reactions in clients.

The workshop covered basic distinctions of skin complications, chemical hazards, the artist's responsibility in terms of colour, aftercare, hygiene, as well as a short training on skin cancer detection - for the latter, the ABCDE rule was one of the most important contents.

Some of you have certainly marked 05.01.2022 as the black day of the tattoo industry in your calendars. From this day on, some important components such as certain preservatives and binders have been banned from tattoo inks.
This was stated in the so-called REACH regulation. Due to the ban on Pigment Green 7 and Blue 15:3, colourful tattoos were a thing of the past from then on. However, not only green and blue colours were affected. At that time, the pigments concerned were contained in about 2/3 of all colours on the German market.

No wonder, then, that the topic of REACH was also a big part of the congress. But what exactly was discussed and what does the future of tattoo colours look like?
Already at the WCTP Congress in 2021, i.e. in the run-up to REACH, the concentration of aldehydes was mentioned as the biggest problem. This concerns the raw materials in question as well as the sterilisation required by some national EU laws. A solution to this problem could be a fundamental change in the limits of aldehydes and other problematic substances. Due to national laws in different countries, free distribution in the EU is hampered. Labelling and other requirements may also vary between member states.

As I'm sure all of you have noticed, in January 2023, the ban on Blue15 was added to the mix. This ban was also imposed by the REACH regulation and led to a loss of about 66% of the current tattoo colours.
No wonder that this ban was also a big issue. Some of the current "alternatives", namely Blue61, carry the risk of contamination with the carcinogen aniline (blood-altering toxin) and therefore pose an increased risk to health compared to Blue15.
You are probably wondering now why the comparatively more harmless Blue15 is banned while Blue61 is still allowed.

The pigment Blue15 was already banned in hair dye products in the 1970s. Since the tattoo industry did not have an adequate dossier for the toxicological assessment of the pigments, the ban from the 1970s formed the basis for the ban in the tattoo industry.

Besides all the negative news, there is also good news regarding the safety of tattoos and PMUs. Contamination of ink with high amounts of carcinogenic substances such as polyaromatic amines (PAA) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PCA) were found less frequently in market surveillance.

Research in tattooing and its complications is flourishing.

Old and new complications of tattoo colours, histopathology and allergy diagnostics, which bridges the gap between diagnosis and research, were presented.

In addition to new epidemiological studies, methods for detecting metabolites and hazardous chemicals, there is also new data on the kinetics of ink in the body. These data can be used to help identify practices and chemicals that are unsafe and at the same time help identify safe chemicals and practices.

This year, for the first time, there was a live experiment at the WCTP Congress. During this, poster pitches were given on different topics.

The last time we were at the show was in 2021, when the REACH regulation was in its early stages and the "SAVE THE PIGMENTS" petition was just starting. Accordingly, it was an important event for us to catch up on the latest developments in tattoo colours.

It was nice to see that thanks to continuous research, a satisfactory solution is being worked on for everyone. The REACH regulation, as it currently exists, was a hard blow for the tattoo industry and still significantly affects the work of tattoo artists. This makes it all the more important to push forward research into ingredients and not rely on old-fashioned research from years gone by.
The WCTP Congress is definitely an important event for the tattoo industry to get informed.