Tattoo Ink Moves Through the Body, Killing Immune Cells and Weakening Vaccine Response
A tattoo artist working on a customer's arm.
Source: Getty Images
Tattoo ink doesn’t just sit inertly in the skin. New research shows it moves rapidly into the lymphatic system, where it can persist for months, kill immune cells, and even disrupt how the body responds to vaccines.
Scientists in Switzerland used a mouse model to trace what happens after tattooing. Pigments drained into nearby lymph nodes within minutes and continued to accumulate for two months, triggering immune-cell death and sustained inflammation.