It seemed like a fine idea at the time: that tattoo from the summer of sophomore year in college, declaring your love forever -- in gothic script -- for Danny Kilroy on the back of your right hand.

	John Heller, Post-Gazette At the Ink Monkey Tattoo parlor, Mike Greer, 29, of Jefferson Hills checks the first session of his "Bombs Away" tattoo. It will take about three hours to complete. Click photo for larger image.

Flash forward six years. Mr. Kilroy is nothing but an annoying memory, and you, just out of law school, are up for a job in a blue chip law firm that does not appreciate the fine art of body deco, but you don't have the money for painful tattoo removal.

It may be too late for you, but scientists at Harvard University say such youthful mistakes can be avoided in the future with a new tattoo ink they've developed that can be completely removed if the owner has a change of heart.

The new ink is a safe, biodegradable pigment enclosed in tiny plastic polymer capsules that can only be broken down by a special laser. But it's a much faster, easier process than traditional techniques, which often require a half-dozen laser treatments and thousands of dollars.

"This will open the tattoo market up to a whole new group of people who might have hesitated before," said Martin Schmieg, president and chief executive officer of Freedom-2, the company that plans to introduce the new ink next year. He worked with R. Rox Anderson, a dermatology professor at Harvard Medical School, to develop it.

"It's permanent, yet erasable."

While Mr. Schmieg said he's had a positive response to the ink, those in the tattoo industry are balking.

"It goes against everything a tattoo is supposed to be about," said Ross Kennedy, a tattoo artist at Ink Monkey Tattoo in Homestead. "The whole idea about tattooing is, it's about forever. Removing it defies the whole purpose in the first place."

Mr. Kennedy, like other practitioners, regard themselves as artists on par with Monet and Leonardo da Vinci.

"A tattoo is a permanent body modification," added Bob Lang, who has operated Accents in Ink in Castle Shannon for 13 years. "People don't come in and think, 'OK, I'll get myself a tattoo that can be removed in one sitting.' "

'Amazing stuff'

The new ink is a combination of dyes and plastic polymer approved by the Food and Drug Administration that can't be absorbed by the body, making it permanent when applied in a tattoo. But a single laser treatment will destroy the bond between the polymer and the dye, and the tattoo disappears after the dye is absorbed by the body, which is in about two weeks.

"It's amazing stuff," said Dr. Eric Bernstein, a professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania who serves on the company's scientific advisory board. Ordinarily, Dr. Bernstein uses three types of lasers to remove tattoos, "and they all hurt a lot and require six to 12 treatments. Sometimes, you're talking years to get out a conventional tattoo. But this worked right away with one treatment."

Once the province mostly of bikers, punk rockers, sailors and laborers, tattoos have exploded in popularity among mainstream Americans in recent years, popularized in part by athletes and Hollywood stars.

A Harris Poll in 2003 estimated that between 15 percent and 16 percent of U.S. adults had a tattoo. And a study that appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology's Web site in June suggested the number was even higher -- that 24 percent of Americans between age 18 and 25 had a tattoo.

On the other hand, 50 percent of people with tattoos later want to have them removed, according to the American Society of Dermatological Surgery. Most of these involve eliminating a paramour's name after a breakup or divorce. Some of the more serious tattoo artists, in fact, won't do names for that reason, said Neil Kotter, a guest artist at Angry Moon Tattoos on the South Side.

"It will jinx the relationship, from my experience," he said.

Whether it's a name or a Hawaiian hula girl, tattoos have become a preferred alternative to other age-old forms of self-expression, such as smoking or drinking.

While many businesses still resist allowing workers to sport tattoos, the military has relaxed its rules. Previously, the Navy decreed that no more than 25 percent of a particular body part could be tattooed. That restriction was lifted in April, though, and now sailors can sport tattoos on their arms and legs as long as they are not larger than the size of the sailor's hand, with fingers extended. The entire chest, back, belly and behind are also allowed, although the tattoos cannot be visible through a white uniform or be racist, obscene, gang-related or otherwise "prejudicial to good order, discipline and morale."

The Navy still forbids them on the head, face, neck or scalp. The Army, which has been struggling to recruit more soldiers, allows head and neck art as long as it's not offensive.

Safety issues, however, are a continuing concern because the industry is largely unregulated. In Pennsylvania, the tattooing of minors under 18 is prohibited without parental consent. But statewide and in Allegheny County, there are otherwise no license or registration requirements for tattoo parlors, although some local municipalities do regulate them.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on occasion has reported clusters of antibiotic-resistant staph infections from tattooists in other parts of the country, and the FDA is considering greater involvement.

All the more reason why Freedom-2 ink's time has come, says Mr. Schmeig, who contends that many paints used by tattoo artists "may contain lead, zinc or other heavy metals. It can be the equivalent of the stuff that's used in car paint. I tell people, 'You wouldn't take a swig of car paint, so why put it in your skin?' "

Tattoo artists unconvinced

Tattoo artists say safety concerns are overblown.

"There's nobody falling over dying," said "Sailor Bill" Johnson, vice president of the Orlando, Fla.-based National Tattoo Association. For the most part, inks used by tattoo artists are safer than they were prior to World War II, when mercury was a common component in red inks, he said. The Alliance of Professional Tattooists also sponsors six-hour seminars on health and safety issues.

And what does he think about the removable ink?

"It's not going to change our business. You shouldn't have a tattoo thinking, 'Oh, I can have it removed.'

"The whole belief behind tattooing is that it's beautiful artwork on a human canvas, and for someone to come along and say 'I'm going to invent something so people can remove it,' well that's crazy."

You can read more about the new ink at www.freedom2ink.com.