Aluminium amalgam with it to form the amalgam. This process can continue well beyond the immediately exposed metal surface, potentially reacting with a large part of the bulk aluminium before it finally ends. The net result is similar to the mercury electrodes often used in electrochemistry, except instead of providing electrons from an electrical supply they are provided by the aluminium which becomes oxidized in the process. The reaction that occurs at the surface of the amalgam may actually be a hydrogenation rather than a reduction. The presence of water in the solution is reportedly necessary; the electron rich amalgam will oxidize
Amalgam tattoo from pencil leads), and is sometimes termed a "graphite tattoo", although this is less common than tattooing with amalgam. The diagnosis is clinical. Amalgam tattoo can be distinguished from other causes of localized oral pigmentation because it does not change significantly in size or color, although it may appear to slowly enlarge for several months after the initial implantation of the metal particles. Some amalgam tattoos appear radio-opaque on radiographs (i.e. they show up on x-rays), although in many cases amalgam tattoos have no radiographic features since the responsible particle(s) of amalgam are very small even though clinically the area