If you've ever been in Venice beach in L.A. (or almost any beach resort)
you've probably seen street artists offering henna tattoos. According
to this article, you should take care that the artist is using natural
henna (which results in an orange/brown tattoo) and not "black henna"
which often contains a toxic dye (and results in a dark black tattoo
when applied).
What is "black henna" ?
Henna itself does not naturally dye skin black, though there are
products
available for sale called "black henna". If a product is called
"black henna"
there has been something added to the henna to make it turn
black. The
additional dye may or may not be dangerous. PPD,
P-Phenylenediamine is
frequently added to henna to make it stain black. PPD may also
be used
alone to stain skin black. PPD stains the skin absolutely black
within 2
hours and the stain can last easily 2 weeks. PPD is extremely
dangerous in
either case, because it is a toxin that is able to get into the
bloodstream
through the skin. Once in the system, PPD toxins can collect in
the liver,
causing serious damage.
Traditional henna naturally, safely, stains the skin some color
in the range
of brick, carmel, cocoa, bittersweet, burgundy, red, or under
some
conditions, coffee color.
Other products called "black henna" may have indigo or food-type
dyes
added to henna. These are generally not harmful to skin. They
also do
NOT stain the skin JET BLACK quickly, and the stain does not last
long!
These fairly harmless dyes only stain the outermost skin cells on
the
epidermis, and the stain is generally gone in a few days to a
week.
http://www.spellstone.com/henna/ppd/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:56:47 MDT