Think twice before you tattoo

The San Francisco Chronicle has a long article pointing out that the inks young people are injecting into their skin for their hip, edgy, fashionable tattoos are often poisonous.  Not immediate, “grip your throat and fall down frothing” poison, but slow stuff, like carcinogens and things that interfere with neurons.  In other words, slow poisons.

I’m no fan of tattoo culture.  It’s a class thing (my parents came from a European class system that viewed tattoos as déclassé) and it’s a generational thing (my generation didn’t do tattoos).  When I see a good-looking guy covered in tattoos, I don’t think awesome, I think yuck.

I pass this along for what it’s worth, noting only that the Chronicle seems to think the answer lies in FDA regulation.  Yes, your government working harder than ever to protect you from yourself.  How about, instead, using our amazing media structure to make people aware of the fact that tattoos are poisonous.  Then, when they’re informed, let them make their own choices.