Read the report from the 5th world congress including key aspects raised in the panel discussion on REACH.
Thank you for your participation in WCTP 2021!
Dear participants of the WCTP 2021 in Amsterdam, dear members of the ESTP,
in the name of the European Society for Tattoo and Pigment Research and the congress chairs, I would like to thank you for your participation of this years congress. We think back to a successful congress, with many participants from numerous nationalities and working fields, attending physical or virtual. We felt a positive and enthusiastic atmosphere during the congress and the social events. Your participation and input was highly appreciated and we hereby thank you for this.
Despite the uncertainties we and you had to face during the planning of the congress, we achieved a lively and successful exchange of knowledge, valuable discussions and new connections to other people in the field.
Our first hybrid event enabled people all over the world to join and profit from the expertise of the 58 talks and panel discussions during the conference. We tried to involve the virtual participants as much as possible and apologize for all questions that could not be answered either due to time limitations or technical problems. We will take our lessons from here and likely proceed with this hybrid congress format from now on.
For those who are not members yet, we highly recommend to get a ESTP membership. Besides reduced fees for the congresses, you also support us survive financially in the long term.
We hope to see you at the next WCTP congress in 2023!
Kind regards,
The ESTP Organizing committee of the WCTP 2021:
Thijs Veenstra, Sebastiaan van der Bent, Jørgen Serup & Ines Schreiver
Nikolas Kluger released his reports on some of the talks, which you can view here https://bit.ly/2WETdTX
REACH – key aspects discussed at WCTP 2021
We also want to point out the key aspects that were raised during the panel discussion “REACH, where to go from here?”
Ban of pigment Blue 15 and Green 7: It was pointed out, that a legal complaint could be raised towards the European Commission regarding the legitimacy of a ban of Pigment Blue 15 & Green 7 since they are explicitly banned in Annex II of the Cosmetics Directive only for hair dying. All parties interested in joining forces in such matters please contact the ESTP via info@cap-partner.eu
Concentration limits of other substances banned by the REACH restriction: Changes in the REACH restriction can only take place when the European Commission addresses the ECHA in this manner. The Commission might only do so if multiple countries raise concerns or report problems with this restriction. Therefore, the activation of member states and the corresponding ministries that are in charge of REACH legislations is crucial to stimulate toxicological sound levels taken from single-substance risk assessment for the ingredients and impurities. As pointed out by different speakers and participants, the ban of irritants such as isopropanol, the type 6 instead of type 1 assignment of tattoo inks in the Biocidal Product Regulation and impurities such as aldehydes and certain metals are disputed the most. Several members of the ESTP are already on their way to address these issues.
Join forces and connect the community of researchers and other stakeholders such as tattooist organizations for the future: A good connection is needed to exchange information and knowledge on an international level. The need for an organization of tattoo ink producers was pointed out as necessary to involve in future legislative procedures due to their higher financial power. Although especially for point 3, the time was too limited to paint a path towards the future, the ESTP will engage and support these efforts. Any proposals for solutions are still welcome.
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