The Chemical Analysis Of Modern Tattoo Inks

(cont.). The aim of this research is to scientifically evaluate tattoo inks by documenting the physical properties of the inks both macroscopically and microscopically and by identifying the optical and chemical properties of the pigments spectroscopically. This is done in an effort to qualitatively identify tattoo inks resulting in the ability to discriminate between different colors, within similar colors and between different brands of tattoo inks. The lack of an established method of analysis of tattoo inks for identification and comparison is an additional catalyst for this research. The primary means of characterization is base upon molecular structural determination using normal micro-Raman spectroscopy. This method will be supplementd by several other methods commonly employed in forensic science and art conservation laboratories, such as Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS), Fourier-transform Raman spectroscopy (FT-Raman), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), x-ray fluorescence (XRF) and ultra-violet visible spectroscopy (UV/Vis).