Health Department issues warning for henna tattoos

[abdulhakeem]

Monday July 30th, 2007

The Walton County Health Department urges Walton County residents and visitors to be aware of the risks involved with having “temporary black henna tattoos” applied.

The department has received reports of allergic reactions and injuries, including permanent scarring to the skin from temporary black henna tattoos popular with children, teens and tourists who want to enjoy a “temporary” tattoo.

Henna, a coloring made from a plant, is approved only for use as a hair dye, not for direct application to the skin. Since henna typically produces a brown, orange-brown, or reddish-brown tint, other ingredients must be added to produce other colors, such as those marketed as black henna.

This so-called black henna may contain the coal tar color P-Phenylenediamine, also know as “PPD”. The only legal use of PPD in cosmetics is as a hair dye.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration henna is not approved for direct application to the skin and the unapproved use of the color additive makes this product impure and therefore illegal. (See http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-tatt.html for further Information.) This ingredient may cause mild to serious allergic reactions in some individuals who have a temporary black henna tattoo applied to the skin.

For more information or to report possible reactions to temporary black henna tattoos, contact the Walton County Health Department’s Environmental Health Division in DeFuniak Springs at 850-892-8021 or in Santa Rosa Beach at 850-267-3686.

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/7364

[abdulhakeem]

Girls Injured By Banned Henna Tattoo Dye

July 6, 2007

FALLSTON, Md. -- Three Fallston children who got henna tattoos during a vacation to Florida may be marked for life because the tattoo artist used a banned form of the popular temporary skin dye, officials said.

Henna tattooing is traditionally an Indian body decoration that is said to have started some 5,000 years ago. True henna is made up of natural leaves and dyes that are turned into a paste and piped onto the skin.

Kelly Supko said she got her first permanent tattoo four months ago. When her family went on a Florida vacation two weeks ago, her three daughters decided they wanted body art, too, in the form of a temporary henna tattoo.

The family said they were told the tattoo was only supposed to last two weeks. But it left behind red, itchy blisters in the shape of the tattoo design.

Supko said she believes the henna used on her children was black henna, a synthetic black hair dye containing para-phenylenediamine, or PPD.

Dr. Margaret Weiss, a dermatologist at St. Joseph Medical Center, said that PPD is used to give a quicker, darker result, but it also has a long-lasting health risk in the form of potentially severe allergic reactions. The black henna dye can often cause blistering, open sores and scarring.

Weiss said natural henna is safe and has been used for thousands of years.

Natural henna tattoo artist Usha Gupta, who owns a salon in Towson, said that henna artists aren't regulated and that people need to ask for and make sure they're getting a natural henna tattoo.

Supko's children are currently being treated for their blisters and are hoping that they won't scar. Supko said she doesn't have plans to take legal action against the Seaside, Fla., shop.

She said she's currently only concerned about her daughters' health and making sure others are aware of the danger of black henna.

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/13636338/detail.html