The FDA has issued a Consumer Update about the potential dangers of temporary black henna tattoos.
According to the FDA, several reports have been received through MedWatch, the Administration’s safety information and adverse event reporting program, of serious and long-lasting reactions after the application of temporary tattoos. Reported problems include redness, blisters, raised red weeping lesions, loss of pigmentation, increased sensitivity to sunlight and even permanent scarring. Some of the reactions have led people to seek medical care, including visits to hospital emergency rooms, according to the FDA. Reactions may occur immediately after a person gets a temporary tattoo, or even up to 2 or 3 weeks later, they report.
The warning from the FDA about the dangers of temporary black henna tattoos includes examples of some negative reactions. The parents of a 5-year-old girl reported that she developed severe reddening on her forearm about two weeks after receiving a black henna temporary tattoo. The mother of a 17-year-old girl reported that her daughter had a temporary black henna tattoo that became red and itchy and later began to blister; those blisters then filled with fluid. Another mother, whose teenager had no reaction to red henna tattoos, described the skin on her daughter’s back as looking “the way a burn victim looks, all blistered and raw” after a black henna tattoo was applied there. According to this last patient’s doctor, the teenager will have scarring for life.
The FDA asks any individual who has had a reaction to or concern about a temporary tattoo or any other cosmetic to contact MedWatch by calling 1-800-FDA-1088 to report by telephone or contact the nearest FDA consumer complaint coordinator (https://1.usa.gov/oE87y).
For more information, please visit https://1.usa.gov/YA9emB.
