在人類(lèi)淋巴結(jié)中發(fā)現(xiàn)了刺青針上的金屬顆粒

It's not just ink particles and contaminants that can travel through your body when you get tattooed. Researchers have now found that metal nanoparticles from the tattooing needles can get left behind, too.

當(dāng)你紋身時(shí)，不僅僅是墨水顆粒和污染物會(huì)穿過(guò)你的身體。研究人員現(xiàn)在發(fā)現(xiàn)，紋身針上的金屬納米粒子也會(huì)被遺留下來(lái)。

These particles - shed from the needles used to puncture your skin and deposit the ink - include nickel and chromium, which are allergens. So they could induce allergic responses previously attributed only to the inks.

這些微粒——從用于刺穿皮膚和沉積墨水的針頭中釋放出來(lái)的——包括鎳和鉻，它們是過(guò)敏原。因此，它們能引發(fā)過(guò)敏反應(yīng)，而此前人們認(rèn)為過(guò)敏反應(yīng)只與油墨有關(guān)。
"There is more to tattoos than meets the eye," said environmental scientist Hiram Castilla of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF).

歐洲同步輻射設(shè)施(ESRF)的環(huán)境科學(xué)家HiramCastilla說(shuō)：“紋身的含義遠(yuǎn)不止表面現(xiàn)象。”

"It is not only about the cleanliness of the parlour, the sterilisation of the equipment or even about the pigments. Now we find that the needle wear also has an impact in your body."

“這不僅涉及操作室的清潔、設(shè)備的消毒，甚至顏料的安全?，F(xiàn)在我們發(fā)現(xiàn)紋身針自身對(duì)身體也有影響。”

Although we humans have been decorating our bodies with pigment deposited under the epidermis for thousands of years, little research has been done on what effect that ink has on our bodies.

雖然幾千年來(lái)我們?nèi)祟?lèi)一直用表皮下沉積的色素來(lái)裝飾我們的身體，但是很少有人研究墨水對(duì)我們身體的影響。

Most of it does stay put, since the ink particles are too big for our immune systems to break down. But as ESRF scientists discovered last year, a very small amount of the minutest particles do actually get removed by the immune system, moving through the body before being deposited in the lymph nodes.

因?yàn)槟w粒太大，我們的免疫系統(tǒng)無(wú)法分解，所以大多數(shù)墨水確實(shí)會(huì)停留在原處。但是，正如ESRF科學(xué)家去年發(fā)現(xiàn)的那樣，免疫系統(tǒng)確實(shí)會(huì)清除非常少量的微小顆粒，在進(jìn)入淋巴結(jié)之前，它們會(huì)在體內(nèi)移動(dòng)。

It's well known that tattoos can cause adverse reactions in some people. Sometimes the host will have an allergic reaction, or develop hypersensitivity at the site of the tattoo. Sometimes, tattoo pigments in the body can later cause symptoms similar to those of lymphoma and melanoma.

眾所周知，紋身會(huì)引起一些人的不良反應(yīng)。有時(shí)宿主會(huì)有過(guò)敏反應(yīng)，或在紋身部位產(chǎn)生過(guò)敏反應(yīng)。有時(shí)候，身體上的紋身色素會(huì)導(dǎo)致類(lèi)似淋巴瘤和黑色素瘤的癥狀。

In this case, the team was primarily investigating the allergens chromium and nickel, as well as iron. Their previous research turned up nanoparticles of the metals in their subjects' lymph nodes, so they were trying to find the link between these metals and the pigments used in tattoo inks.

在這個(gè)案例中，研究小組主要研究了鉻、鎳以及鐵等過(guò)敏原。他們之前的研究在受試者的淋巴結(jié)中發(fā)現(xiàn)了這種金屬的納米顆粒，因此他們?cè)噲D找到這些金屬與紋身墨水中使用的色素之間的聯(lián)系。

Nanoparticles are potentially more dangerous than larger particles, because they have more surface area per volume - which means they're potentially more efficient at releasing toxic elements.

納米顆粒比大顆粒更危險(xiǎn)，因?yàn)樗鼈兠矿w積的表面積更大——這意味著它們釋放有毒元素的效率可能更高。

"After studying several human tissue samples and finding metallic components, we realised that there must be something else," said Ines Schreiver of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment.

德國(guó)聯(lián)邦風(fēng)險(xiǎn)評(píng)估研究所的InesSchreiver說(shuō)：“在研究了幾個(gè)人體組織樣本并發(fā)現(xiàn)了金屬成分之后，我們意識(shí)到肯定還有別的東西。”

"We also tested around 50 ink samples without finding such metal particles and made sure that we hadn't contaminated the samples during sample preparation. Then we thought of testing the needle and that was our 'eureka' moment."

“我們還測(cè)試了大約50個(gè)墨水樣品，沒(méi)有發(fā)現(xiàn)這種金屬顆粒，并確保在樣品制備過(guò)程中沒(méi)有污染樣品。然后我們想到測(cè)試針，那是我們的“發(fā)現(xiàn)”時(shí)刻。”

You can see how brutal the tattooing process looks up close in this awesome slow-motion footage from Smarter Every Day.

在這段來(lái)自《聰明的每一天》的慢鏡頭中，你可以近距離看到紋身過(guò)程有多殘忍。

Synchrotron nano-X-ray fluorescence and nano-X-ray absorption showed that inks containing titanium dioxide - a white pigment often used to brighten coloured inks - are particular contributors to the problem.

同步加速器納米x射線熒光和納米x射線吸收表明，含有二氧化鈦的油墨是造成這一問(wèn)題的主要原因。二氧化鈦是一種白色顏料，經(jīng)常用于使彩色油墨變亮。

The hard, dense titanium dioxide acts as a harsh abrasive that scrubs away particles of the metal needle, a process that does not occur when the artist uses softer carbon black ink.

堅(jiān)硬、致密的二氧化鈦就像一種粗糙的磨料，能把金屬針上的顆粒磨掉，而當(dāng)藝術(shù)家使用較軟的炭黑墨水時(shí)，這一過(guò)程是不會(huì)發(fā)生的。

Scanning electron microscopy of nine needles was performed, too. Three were scanned before use, three were scanned after tattooing carbon black ink on pigskin, and three were scanned after tattooing with titanium dioxide ink on pigskin.

針對(duì)9根針進(jìn)行了掃描電鏡觀察。其中3只在使用前進(jìn)行掃描，3只在豬皮上用炭黑墨水紋身后進(jìn)行掃描，3只在豬皮上用二氧化鈦墨水紋身后進(jìn)行掃描。
You can clearly see below that the titanium dioxide needles are a lot more worn than the carbon black ones.

你可以清楚地看到，下面的二氧化鈦針比碳黑針磨損得多。

"It is beyond doubt that the metal particles derive from the tattoo needle as result of pure mechanical grinding," said Bernhard Hesse of the ESRF.

ESRF的Bernhard Hesse說(shuō)：“毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，紋身針中的金屬顆粒是純機(jī)械研磨的結(jié)果。”

It's the first time researchers have demonstrated that this is occurring, so we don't yet know what this discovery might mean in health terms. Further research will be needed to determine what impact needle nanoparticles are having when it comes to adverse reactions that can arise from tattoos.

這是研究人員首次證實(shí)這種情況的發(fā)生，所以我們還不知道這一發(fā)現(xiàn)對(duì)健康意味著什么。還需要進(jìn)一步的研究來(lái)確定納米針對(duì)紋身可能產(chǎn)生的不良反應(yīng)有什么影響。

As always, we recommend that you do your homework before getting inked - find a reputable studio and, if you can, find out which inks they use so you can check the ingredients for yourself.

和往常一樣，我們建議你在紋身之前做足功課——找一家信譽(yù)良好的工作室，如果可以的話，找出他們使用的是哪種墨水，這樣你就可以自己檢查成分了。

The team's research has been published in Particle and Fibre Toxicology.

該小組的研究已經(jīng)發(fā)表在《粒子和纖維毒理學(xué)》上。