Luxembourg bans 10 popular tattoo inks
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At the beginning of April 2025, the Luxembourg Environment Authority announced the withdrawal from the market of 10 tattoo ink products that violate the law of 16 December 2011 regulating chemicals. This was based on the results of inspections for compliance with REACH, the EU regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals.
The banned products include such well-known brands as Dynamic, Quantum, Radiant, World Famous Limitless and others. All of them were recognised as potentially hazardous due to the content of banned substances, exceeding permissible concentrations of toxic compounds or violations in labelling and batch identification.
The following tattoo ink has come under the ban:
- Dynamic Ultra White (batch WUL 020124 D1)
- SUPER Totem Black (batch RD26Y5)
- Quantum Bitchin Black and Quantum Cookie Monster (both batch 2411)
- Radiant Evolved Lyon Blue (batch 01)
- Four colours от World Famous Limitless: Medium Purple, Medium Blue, Dark Green, Light Green
- Untitled product labelled as Tattoo Ink, Model: SNDE-1 (batch 20240801001)
All have been entered into the European Safety Gate rapid alert system, which reports products that pose a risk to consumer health and safety.
Many of these inks are used by professional tattoo artists throughout Europe, including Luxembourg. The withdrawal of these products raises important questions: how safe are the materials used in the tattoo industry and how can the government control a market filled with imported products with opaque chemical composition?
REACH requires manufacturers and distributors to prove the safety of all components of chemical mixtures. Non-compliance with these requirements may mean the presence of carcinogens, allergens, heavy metals or other harmful substances. In the case of tattoo inks that are injected directly under the skin, these risks are multiplied many times over.
According to a statement from the Environmental Protection Agency, all of the products in question are subject to immediate recall. Consumers who have already purchased such inks are urged to stop using them and contact retailers for return instructions.
In addition, the authority emphasises that the tattoo ink market is closely monitored and similar measures will be taken in the future if violations are detected. Information about the identified non-compliances is available on the authority's official portal emwelt.lu.
