Contaminated tattoo ink, needles recalled

By Mark Fisher

Staff Writer

Multiple lots of tattoo inks and needles sold by a California-based company through the Internet have been recalled due to potential bacterial contamination, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Monday.

The voluntary recall by White & Blue Lion Inc. includes all tattoo inks, needles and kits distributed by the company. The products are sold separately by 8Decades and White & Blue Lion through www.amazon.com.

The recalled needles and inks may cause bacterial infection and can lead to sepsis, a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection, FDA officials warned. FDA laboratory testing found microbial bacterial contamination in both the inks and needles, agency officials said. There has been one illness connected with the tattoo products.

Jeremy McGrady, a tattoo artist at Cloak and Dagger Tattoo Studio in Dayton, said the company named in the recall is not a prominent supplier of tattoo ink and needles to the industry.
“I’ve never heard of it, and I’m familiar with most of the large companies,” McGrady said. “I suspect the only people who would be impacted by this are those making the poor decision to get tattooed at their own home.”

The products recalled by White & Blue Lion include a tattoo kit of a multi-colored Chinese Dragon Image with black and white lettering with Lot No. OR20036, Batch #8, in a 5-ml bottle. Some of the recalled tattoo needles are packaged in groups of five and labeled as “CE0197 Pre-made tattoo needle.”

Consumers can call the California company for more information at (626) 586-3485 from noon to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday EST, FDA officials said.

Source: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/breaking-news/contaminated-tattoo-ink-needles-recalled/ngfTD/