While Macrophages are really great at breaking down bacteria and other cell garbage, they aren’t actually able to destroy the ink. So they just keep it inside themselves and store it. If you have a tattoo, when you look at it remember that it is partially trapped within your immune system. Unfortunately if a few years later you decide that the Chinese characters that turned out to mean “soup” are not as tasteful anymore and want to get them removed, your immune system also makes it really hard to get rid of a tattoo.
