Carbon stain

Carbon stain
A carbon stain made from a puncture wound by a pencil (highlighted in circle).
Specialty	Dermatology

Carbon stains is a skin condition characterized by a discoloration of the skin from embedded carbon, usually occurring due to accidents with firearms or firecrackers, or from a puncture wound by a pencil. It may leave a permanent black mark of embedded graphite, easily mistaken for metastatic melanoma. ^{[1] : 47}

Soot tattoo

Soot tattoos are a type of carbon stain made by inserting soot into the dermis layer of the skin via a drug injection. A drug user may try to sterilize the tip of a needle with a flame, leaving a small amount of soot on the outside of the needle. ^[2] An injection can carry this residual carbon into the skin, leaving a mark. ^[3]

Soot tattoos are an accidental cutaneous condition. This is distinct from the intentional practice of a tattoo artist creating a tattoo with a design in the skin using soot as a pigment in tattoo ink.

See also

• List of cutaneous conditions

References

1. James, William D.; Berger, Timothy G.; et al. (2006). Andrews' Diseases of the Skin: clinical Dermatology. Saunders Elsevier. ISBN   978-0-7216-2921-6.
2. MD, Steven B. Karch; Drummer, Olaf; FFFLM, Steven B. Karch MD (2001-12-26). Karch's Pathology of Drug Abuse. CRC Press. p. 395. ISBN   978-1-4200-4211-5.
3. Rapini, Ronald P.; Bolognia, Jean L.; Jorizzo, Joseph L. (2007). Dermatology: 2-Volume Set. St. Louis: Mosby. ISBN   978-1-4160-2999-1.