Why are tattoos permanent?

<p><strong>#141</strong></p><p>Tattoos go back centuries across many cultures, and yet their chemistry is still an absolute mystery to most of us. How do tattoos work? What is the ink made of? How does the ink stay in our skin indefinitely? Why don't our bodies get rid of it? Let's do this.</p><p><a href="https://transistor.fm/how-to-start-a-podcast/?via=jam">How to start a podcast.</a> &lt;- Check this out if you've got a podcast idea you want to make happen!</p><p><br><strong>References from this episode</strong></p><ol> <li><a href="https://youtu.be/Fs9rR4W0EeA">https://youtu.be/Fs9rR4W0EeA</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/07/28/all-the-science-that-goes-into-a-single-tattoo/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/07/28/all-the-science-that-goes-into-a-single-tattoo/</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2014/09/24/watching-a-tattoo-needle-in-slow-motion-reveals-the-physics-of-getting-inked/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2014/09/24/watching-a-tattoo-needle-in-slow-motion-reveals-the-physics-of-getting-inked/</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/past-issues/archive-2012-2013/open-for-discussion-tattoos.html">https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/past-issues/archive-2012-2013/open-for-discussion-tattoos.html</a></li> <li><a href="https://cen.acs.org/articles/86/i2/Shocking-Tattoos.html">https://cen.acs.org/articles/86/i2/Shocking-Tattoos.html</a></li> <li><a href="http://pubsapp.acs.org.libproxy.library.unt.edu/cen/whatstuff/85/8546sci4.html?">http://pubsapp.acs.org.libproxy.library.unt.edu/cen/whatstuff/85/8546sci4.html?</a></li> <li><a href="https://cen.acs.org/articles/91/i25/Chemistry-Tattoos.html">https://cen.acs.org/articles/91/i25/Chemistry-Tattoos.html</a></li> <li> <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nri3920">https://www.nature.com/article