The researchers analyzed the lymph nodes of four cadavers that had tattoos, as well as two cadavers that had no tattoos, which served as controls. Schreiver was part of a team of German and French scientists that performed the first chemical analyses on tattoo ink collected at human lymph nodes. 'For the most part, it is engulfed and then kind of sticks around in the dermis.'īut researchers are now taking a closer look at the tattoo ink that does travel to other parts of the body, particularly the lymph nodes. Arisa Ortiz, a dermatologist and director of laser and cosmetic dermatology at the U.C. 'Normally, the ink doesn't migrate too far from where it's injected,' Dr. It then shows through the skin, perhaps spelling out 'Mom' or featuring that eagle design you spent weeks choosing. The ink that's not cleared away by special repair cells, called macrophages, stays in the dermis within trapped macrophages or skin cells called fibroblasts. To be clear, most of the tattoo pigment stays put after a person gets a tattoo.

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