Survey: 24 Percent Between 18-50 Tattooed

Matthew Jessup, who goes by the name of "Fatty", works on a custom hip tattoo Saturday, May 13, 2006, at Fatty's Custom Tattooz and Body Piercing parlor in Washington. According to a survey about 36 percent of Americans age 18 to 29 have at least one tattoo. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson) (Lawrence Jackson - AP)

The survey also found that what your mother may have told you about who has tattoos is true: People who drink, do drugs, have been jailed or forgo religion are more likely to be tattooed.

The same holds for piercings, though rates do not appear to vary with education, income or job category. In that sense, they appear to be "different animals," said Laumann, who has traditionally pierced ears but no tattoos.

One obvious difference is that piercings can be easily removed, unlike tattoos.

"I guess I liked the way they looked and the rush of getting them pierced, as well as them not being permanent. I can take them out and the holes will close up," said Simah Waddell, 21, of Rochester, N.Y., of her pierced nose, tongue, belly button and ears.

Waddell, who is entering her senior year at American University, said she suffered no side effects, other than the anger of her parents. The survey suggests that is not always the case for others with piercing. Nearly one in four reported medical problems, including skin infections. Among those with mouth or tongue piercings, an equal proportion reported chipped or broken teeth.

For tattoos, 13 percent of respondents had problems with healing. Generally, the Food and Drug Administration receives few reports of complications from tattoos.

The industry is regulated by state and local officials, but not the FDA, and there is no such thing as an agency-approved tattoo pigment or ink. The FDA is considering more involvement, said Dr. Linda Katz, director of agency's Office of Cosmetics and Colors.

"If you look at the fact that a quarter of adults have a tattoo, it's amazing how safe the industry is," said Dr. R. Rox Anderson, a Harvard Medical School dermatologist and tattoo removal expert. None of the survey respondents had ever had a tattoo removed, though 17 percent had considered it.

Freedom-2 LLC, a Philadelphia company co-founded by Anderson, hopes to launch the first of two lines of not-so-permanent tattoo inks next year, though without FDA approval.

To create the ink, pigments would be encapsulated in a polymer and the microcapsules injected into the skin. A tattoo would be permanent only as long as its wearer wanted it to be.

It would only take a few pulses of a laser to break open the capsules and release the ink into the body to be safely absorbed, said Martin Schmieg, the company's president and chief executive officer.

A second ink, to be available in 2008, would rely on the same technology, except the capsules would dissolve on their own. Depending on the version, the tattoos would naturally vanish after six months, 12 months or 24 months.