There have been no studies, as yet, on the safety of this relatively new trend. What is recommended is to sterilize the cremated ashes after first grinding them to a fine powder.

Losing a child is always a tragic event in one's life. Some pay tribute to their lost children in various ways, such as framed photos or video compilations. Kim Mordue figured that she would work her family profession into the tribute and would return her son from whence he came by incorporating ashes into tattoo ink.

Kim, 50, lost her son Lloyd, 20, in mid-2010 to GHB, a party drug. She hopes that she can help highlight the dangers of such drugs so that fewer parents will have to face the tragedy of losing a child to drugs. The tattoo is a design consisting of a cabala tree, an angel and a poem dedicated to her son. She researched tattoo designs extensively before deciding on those symbols to represent her loss. Friends have had positive reactions to the tattoo, which was drawn by Kim's husband David who runs a tattoo parlour in Llanelli, South Wales. She expects that the idea will catch on more in the future.

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Mom gets tattoo made with dead son's ashes