Traditional line art tattoos generally use black ink, which is also used for outlines and shading in full-color tattoos. Unfortunately, commercial manufacturers and private ink mixers have no obligation to reveal the ingredients they use to make this popular tattoo ink. But using chemical analyses and reports of individual recipes, it is possible to list some of the most common ingredients.
Carrier Solution
Tattoo ink consists of two basic components: a pigment that gives the ink its color, and a liquid carrier solution in which the pigment is suspended. The solid particles of pigment spread evenly throughout the liquid carrier solution, ensuring a consistent color and enabling a tattoo artist to place the pigment precisely beneath the skin. The Healthy Skin Association lists purified water, witch hazel, ethyl alcohol, Listerine, glycerin and propylene glycol as common carrier solutions. All of these substances are popular, in part, because they tend to limit infection risk and prevent contamination.
Metals and Minerals
A research report posted on the Dr. Tattoff website lists several metallic and mineral ingredients that can form the pigment in black tattoo ink. These substances include magnetite crystals, wustite and carbon. According to Frederick Pough's Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals, both magnetite and wustite are forms of iron oxide and occur in nature in isolation or mixed with one another or other iron-containing minerals. Carbon is a non-metallic element that is one of the most common substances on the planet and is found in many minerals, including diamond, graphite and coal. The Dr. Tattoff site reports that these metallic or mineral ingredients can cause adverse reactions in some people, but black tattoo ink, in all its variations, rarely causes allergic reactions.
Organic Substances
In addition to metallic and mineral ingredients, the Dr. Tattoff website lists three common organic sources of pigment in black tattoo ink: logwood, powdered jet and bone black. According to the website Botanical, the logwood tree, or Haematoxylum campechianum, grows in Mexico and Central America. Logwood has long been a part of dyes to color fabric and paper, and it continues this legacy as a natural source of black tattoo ink pigment. Jet is organic in nature and forms when decomposed wood is compressed in geological formations over the course of many millions of years. Bone black has several other names, including bone char, abaiser and ivory black. Bone black is created by burning animal bones, and the temperature and amount of oxygen present during burning can alter the color of the resulting powder from an intense black to gray, brown or white.
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