Department of Radiation Oncology, NYU Permuletter Cancer Center, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, United States of America.
Department of Radiation Oncology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2019 Aug 7;14(8):e0220030. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220030. eCollection 2019.
It is estimated that approximately 24% of the US population has at least one tattoo. However, tattoo ink ingredients include heavy metals (high atomic number Z) that are not regulated, which can cause skin reactions. This study investigates the dosimetric effects in surface dose due to high-Z elements in tattoo ink under electron beam irradiation. Four commercially available tattoo ink colors, black, red, yellow, and blue were chosen. The elemental composition of the tattoo ink samples was analyzed using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF). An ultrathin-window parallel plate ion chamber was used to measure the surface dose perturbation (ratio of ionizations with and without tattoo ink) for 6 - 20 MeV electron beams. The elemental concentration in the tattoo ink samples showed high-Z elements, with Z ranging from 11 to 92. The dose perturbation ranged from 1.4% up to 6% for the yellow ink for the 6 MeV electron beam, with similar values across the rest of the electron energies, whereas the black, red, and blue inks presented up to 3% dose perturbation for the same range of energies. Based on this initial study, we conclude that commercially available tattoo inks contain large amounts of high-Z metals that may contribute to dose perturbation. Therefore treatment of superficial lesions with electron beams in a tattooed area should be monitored for signs of early skin reaction during radiation therapy treatments.
据估计，大约 24%的美国人口至少有一个纹身。然而，纹身墨水的成分包括重金属（高原子序数 Z），这些重金属不受监管，可能会引起皮肤反应。本研究调查了在电子束辐照下纹身墨水中的高 Z 元素对表面剂量的剂量学影响。选择了四种市售的纹身墨水颜色，黑色、红色、黄色和蓝色。使用 X 射线荧光（XRF）分析了纹身墨水样品的元素组成。使用超薄窗平行板离子室测量了 6-20 MeV 电子束的表面剂量扰动（有和没有纹身墨水的离子化比率）。纹身墨水样品中的元素浓度显示出高 Z 元素，Z 值范围从 11 到 92。对于 6 MeV 电子束的黄色墨水，剂量扰动范围从 1.4%到 6%，在其余的电子能量范围内也有类似的值，而黑色、红色和蓝色墨水在相同的能量范围内则呈现出高达 3%的剂量扰动。基于这项初步研究，我们得出结论，市售的纹身墨水含有大量的高 Z 金属，可能会导致剂量扰动。因此，在进行放射治疗时，对于有纹身的区域，用电子束治疗表浅病变，应监测早期皮肤反应的迹象。
