Is There A Recall on SMP Ink Pigment? Is Scalp MicroPigmentation Safe?

I read on a website:
“July 11, 2014 – White & Blue Lion, Inc. in the City of Industry, CA is recalling all lots of tattoo inks and tattoo needles due to pathogenic bacterial contamination. Use of these products may cause bacterial infection and can lead to sepsis, a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection. The recall includes all tattoo inks, tattoo needles, and tattoo kits distributed by White & Blue Lion, Inc.”
Do you use these inks or any of these products?

Tattoo products and inks are definitely a public health risk. Scalp MicroPigmentation falls in this category. You must check who is doing the SMP and if the establishment has a valid license and safety clearance. I have heard stories of SMP being offered in hotel rooms, in private residences, and even out of a car. As simple or harmless as it may seem, tattoo and SMP involves a needle piercing your skin with a foreign substance left inside. The pigments are not regulated or inspected by the FDA or any specific government agency other than the overworked State Health Department. There are numerous things that can go wrong in the wrong hands. HIV, Hepatitis B and C, skin infection, and allergic reaction are among a few that can have disastrous consequences.

We treat the SMP process very seriously as it is performed in a controlled medical environment. While it is not a medical procedure, contamination of needles and pigments are controlled by us. We use only disposable needles and sterilized pigments. We use the exact sterile techniques that we use when we do a hair transplant. We culture the inks and pigment for possible bacteria from our suppliers on all new batches we get and then we sterilize them in our own offices. We throw away all bottles, once opened. We have not seen any issues of bacteria present in the pigments from our testing, but if we did, we would know it. We use ultra-clean techniques for our SMP procedures as if we were going to do a hair transplant surgery to be assured of the least risk of infections as possible. We have not had an infection in the hair transplant procedures for more than a decade (including our SMP experience since we started doing them).