Does tattooing cause skin cancer?

According to a recent comprehensive study by Professor Stephen A. Hoption Cann, of the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada), about 31% of adults in this country have tattoos.

A young couple with matching tattoos marking their love - Photo: TO

Furthermore, women are more likely to get cosmetic tattoos than men (38% vs. 28%).

In Canada, the United States, and Europe, people must be 18 years or older to get a tattoo. As tattooing has grown rapidly, more cases of skin infections and allergies have been discovered, consulted, and reported. However, the risk of long-term complications from tattoos, especially skin cancer, has only recently come to the fore.

There are actually hundreds of brands and thousands of ink colors on the market and tattoos often contain multiple colors.

In addition, if someone only gets a tattoo once, it's easy to track, but if someone gets another tattoo many years later, it's very difficult to track, not to mention whether they smoke, drink alcohol, or what their family situation is...

In Canada, there is a list of restricted and banned chemicals for tattooing, because its ingredients are known to be linked to genetic mutations, carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, skin irritation and itching.

There are also regulations for sample selection and testing for contamination, heavy metals and the correct brand of ink. In Europe it is similar.

But in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not license tattoo inks (regulation is largely passive, only investigating safety concerns when adverse reactions are reported).

Inorganic inks can contain a mixture of metals including barium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, iron, nickel, lead, titanium, and mercury, although most have been phased out due to toxicity. Some other inorganic inks contain acrylic or synthetic pigments.

All of these substances help to preserve color for a long time. In contrast, organic inks are often derived from plants or carbon-based colors but fade more quickly because they lack the metal or synthetic active ingredients that help sustain inorganic inks.

Many of the metals used are known to be carcinogenic such as cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury and nickel; or possibly carcinogenic such as cobalt and titanium.

In addition, some colorants such as azo dyes have nitrogen-containing structures, which can transform into carcinogens. Other harmful substances in printing inks whose chemical structures are polyaromatic hydrocarbons have been shown to cause cancer in animals and humans.

Most recent studies show that most of the pigment from tattoos travels to nearby lymph nodes.

This is the final location where these substances can cause chronic inflammation and cancer progression (skin, lymph nodes, blood…) over time.

The risk of lymphoma was 2.06 times higher in people with tattoos than in people without tattoos, and 2.64 times higher in people with extensive tattoos (larger than the palm of the hand - through McCarty 2024 study, USA, on 820 tattooed people and 8,200 untattooed controls).

The risk of skin cancer increased 1.33 times in people with few tattoos and 2.37 times skin cancer, and 2.73 times lymphoma in people with many tattoos (through the study of Clemmensen 2025, Denmark, on 316 couples).

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/xam-hinh-de-gay-ung-thu-da-khong-20250813091327555.htm