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Matthew Vella
Health Minister Louis Deguara has instructed department officials to look into whether regulating the henna tattoo practice is possible.
He told MP Joseph Cassar in parliament the health department was considering the possibility of issuing a legal notice, although he told MaltaToday he was unsure whether any form of legislation pertaining to henna tattooing existed in any other countries.
Henna is traditionally used as a temporary skin dye across North Africa and the Middle East, producing a dark brown stain lasting about a week. In the 90s, the practice became fashionable in the West as a form of body decoration which was not permanent.
In a recent press report, a British family which had been on holiday in Malta claimed their young son’s back had been permanently stained by a henna tattoo.
“I’m not really sure whether we can actually legislate in this regard,” Deguara told MaltaToday earlier this week. “It’s not like tattooing where needles are involved. We are looking into it, although I am not sure there are any other countries which have legislated on this trade.”
However, unapproved henna products such as ‘black henna’ which contain unsafe chemical dyes such as paraphenylenediamine (PPD). A very cheap substance, PPD is added to real henna, but it is known to be unsafe in the application of henna tattoos, and is not recommended for uses involving prolonged skin contact.
Strict European rules about using PPD dictate it must not make up more than six per cent of the black henna being used. If it is, the tattooist is breaking the law.
Doctors have found the really bad henna scars have been where the PPD was too concentrated.
In fact, it is more likely the issue may fall under the authority of the Maltese standards and consumer rights authorities. In the UK, complaints about children receiving skin problems from the henna tattoos were reported led to Cardiff trading standards officers warning people not to buy henna tattoos from street traders.
mvella@mediatoday.com.mt
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