Perhaps it’s a function of my age (but from what I have seen, maybe not—perhaps it’s just my dislike of needles), but despite the fact that one in five people have a tattoo, I have never had any desire to get one. Although, I have always said I would only get a tattoo if it could be of Tattoo (you know, Herve Villechaize from Fantasy Island). But then after reading this story in Discover about a rash (as it were) of infections in Rochester, N.Y., earlier this year, perhaps I shall resolutely remain undyed. The source of the infections? Contaminated tattoo ink.

A team there learned that all the patients had developed the rash, which turned out to be a bacterial infection, within three weeks of getting a tattoo at a particular parlor. When they interviewed the tattoo artist, they learned that he had recently begun to use a new kind of grey ink. Such ink is often used to create shadow effects, and indeed, the patients’ rashes tended to be on the areas where the grey ink had been injected into their skin. The new color had come from a trade show in Arizona, and this particular artist was the only person using it in the county, as well as the only one whose clients came down with the rash.

It turns out that the bacterium got into the ink during manufacture. Indeed, the infections had nothing to do with poor hygiene on the part of the tattoo parlor. The New England Journal of Medicine, which covered the outbreak, pointed out:

although contamination in tattoo parlors has been implicated in previous outbreaks, our investigation of this outbreak shows that premixed ink contaminated before distribution poses a risk to public health, which may suggest the need for enhanced oversight of not just tattooing but also the inks used in tattooing to ensure public safety

Discover adds that tattoo ink is considered a cosmetic, and the FDA has little ability to regulate cosmetics. So, the next time you are out on a drunken spree and think it would be a really neat idea to get a heart that says “Mother” emblazoned on one’s face, or those ubiquitous rings of ivy on your ankle, caveat emptor. For a while I have been curious as what the next bodily mutilation fad will be, after tattooing and body piercing. My bet: dental scrimshaw.