Eyeball inking should be banned: experts

Attacking the eyeball with needles can result in infection and eye damage, says experts who want eyeball tattooing banned after the NSW government regulated the practice.

A man shows his eye tattooed during the Tattoo Week internacional tattoo and piercing meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on January 22 , 2016. Source: Getty Images

The practice of eyeball tattooing has been unwittingly legalised by health legislation passed by the NSW state government, says Labor's health spokesman.

Walt Secord has labelled amendments made by the Baird government earlier this month as a "major stuff up".

He says the laws effectively green-light eyeball tattooing.

Australian Society of Ophthalmologists president, Dr Michael Steiner, said the concept of eyeball tattooing was "absolutely appalling" and the practice should be banned.

It involves injecting ink into the white part of the eyeball, called the sclera, to permanently dye it another colour.

"To do something that could risk the eyeball for a cosmetic purpose like this is absolutely crazy," Dr Steiner told AAP.

Outcomes could include perforation of the eyeball, a sensitivity to the dye used or long-term inflammation.

Medical conditions revealed through jaundice, involving yellowing of the whites of the eyes, could be hidden if the sclera was dyed, Dr Steiner added.

A Brazilian tattoo artist poses for a picture during the Tatoo Week Rio in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 5, 2014. Source: Getty Images

"How often do I hear patients say `I would rather be dead than blind'.

"It may well be the most valuable organ we have outside the brain - to tinker with that in this way where there are potential risks is absolutely crazy."

President of the AMA NSW, Dr Saxon Smith, agreed it should be banned saying "it rates up there with stupidity or idiocy".

The sclera ranges in thickness from 1mm to .3mm.

"It's a highly sensitive structure," Dr Smith told AAP.

"It might be tough, it might be resistant, but attacking it with needles, running the risk of infection, perforation and then long-term damage in sight loss is ridiculous."

Melbourne-based tattooist known as "Luna Cobra" has described the process safer then smoking or drinking.

But Dr Steiner said that saying something was safer than something else that is dangerous doesn't make it good.

"Maybe crossing a busy road against the lights is safer than swimming with sharks - it doesn't mean that it's a good idea.

"The eye is incredibly valuable, you don't muck around with it."