Nov 29, 2025
3 min read
Despite their popularity, scientists still don't know if tattoos have any health effects.
New research on what we know about tattoos and skin cancer
Despite its popularity, scientists still do not know how tears affect health.
Can tattoos protect the skin from the sun's harmful rays or, conversely, do they make the condition worse?A new study I conducted with some colleagues suggests that there may be cause for concern.We found that people with tattoos have a 29% higher risk of developing melanoma, a serious form of skin cancer often linked to exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light.
However, tattoos did not appear to increase the risk of squamous cell carcinoma, another type of skin cancer linked to damage from UV rays.Although both cancers share a common cause, they arise from different cell types and are completely different in severity, with melanoma being the most dangerous.
Tattoos are a powerful form of self-expression and a cornerstone of modern identity.In Sweden, about one in three adults has a tattoo, indicating that body art has become a mainstream trend.However, despite their popularity, scientists still do not know whether tattoos have health effects or how their potential effects may evolve over time.
Epidemiologists are now trying to answer these questions.This is a difficult task, as people who decide to get tattooed often differ from those who do not in ways that can affect health outcomes.
Another difficulty is that most medical records do not indicate whether a person has a tattoo, making it difficult to study long-term patterns.Without this basic information, it is difficult to know whether the tattoo itself affects health or the difference is due to other factors.
Both myeloma and squamous cell carcinoma grow slowly and are relatively rare, making long-term studies difficult.Maintaining large tracts of large human populations over many, many years will be expensive and time-consuming.So our team took a different approach.We started with people who had already been diagnosed with cancer and looked at who was tatched tooded.This type of study, known as a case study, is an effective way to uncover possible associations.
Sweden maintains information collected on health and population in national records.From the National Cancer Registry, we identified all 20- to 60-year-olds who were diagnosed with melanoma in 2017 or malignant cancer between 2014 and 2017.
This included 2,880 cases of melanoma and 2,821 cases of squamous cell carcinoma.Each case, three comparisons of the same age and sex, who did not have a diagnosis of skin cancer, were selected from a general population registry.
Questionnaires were then sent to all participants asking about tattoos, including decorative, permanent makeup, and medical tattoos, as well as their size, location, and age when the first tattoo was done.This allowed us to determine whether someone had a tattoo before or after the development of cancer.
A total of 5,695 people participated in the melanoma study (1,598 with melanoma) and 6,151 in the single cell carcinoma study (1,600 with that cancer.
About the author
Christel Nielsen is Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Lund University, Sweden.
This article was originally published on The Conversation and is distributed under a Creative Commons license.You can read the original article here.
People with tattoos were 29% more likely to develop melanoma than those without tattoos.The increased risk appeared to be higher in those who had been tattooed for more than ten years, although the numbers in this group were small, so the results should be interpreted with caution.
In squamous cell carcinoma, tattoos made no difference.The results were the same in all analyses, suggesting a link between tattoos and this type of skin cancer.
There is no evidence that large tattoos increase the risk.This is unexpected, as larger tattoos contain more ink and therefore more potentially harmful substances.
One explanation can be a tattoo on the skin.The body's immune system treats it as foreign material and transports the ink particles to the lymph nodes.These particles can last for a long time.Although we do not yet know if this breaks down, inflammation can lead to inflammation, which has been linked to the development of cancer.
Another explanation could be measurement error: people tend to overestimate the size of tattoos.Future research using more precise measures could clarify this point.
Lifestyle and confounding factors
What makes this study unique is the range of lifestyle factors we were able to take into account.Data on sun exposure (professional and recreational), sunbed use, smoking, education level, marital status and family income were recorded.We also took into account skin type, pigmentation, age and gender.
These details are important because they affect both those who get tattooed and those who develop cancer.For example, people who spend a lot of time in the sun are more likely to develop tattoos and melanoma.Taking these differences into account reduces bias and strengthens confidence in the results.
In scientific research, this problem is known as confounding.If confounding factors are not adequately controlled, they can distort the results and lead to wrong conclusions.
Main symptoms of melanoma
A new mole or a change in an existing mole may be a sign of melanoma.Signs to watch for include:
- moles in the form of a path or path
- A mole with a mixture of colors
- A big mole
- A mole that changes over time.
Other signs include moles with the following characteristics:
- swollen and painful
- and the barn.
Recent US research suggests that large tattoos may also reduce the risk of melanoma, but the study did not control for major factors such as skin cancer or UV exposure.Therefore, the results may reflect behavior rather than biologyFor example, people with large tattoos may avoid the sun or tanning beds to protect their body art, which naturally reduces UV damage.
Do tattoos cause skin cancer?The simplest answer is that we don't know yet.Our results suggest a possible link between tattoos and melanoma, but one study is never enough to prove causation.
More research is needed to use biological chemistry, such as chronic planning, and invest in how the type of inch or color can interact with light.
If you have tattoos, there's no need to panic, but awareness is important.Continue to protect your skin from UV radiation as you would yourself: Use sunscreen, avoid excess, and check your skin regularly for new or changed types.
What we see highlights the need for long -term data collection and long -term data on tattoos in medical records.Today, tattoos are common around the world, a major health problem.Ongoing research into tattoo biology and their long -term effects will help people make decisions about their bodies, physical art and health.
Translated by Sara Pignatiello
