A Recent Study Found That People With Tattoos Have A Roughly 29% Higher Risk Of Getting Skin Cancer

ByMF Jones

It seems that pretty much everything causes cancer these days, and we can now potentially add tattoos to the list following a large-scale study from Lund University in Sweden.

The study found that individuals with tattoos had a 29% higher relative risk of developing cutaneous melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer.

This study followed an earlier 2024 report from the same university that linked tattoo exposure to a 21% higher risk of lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system.

Interestingly, the Lund University study found that the size of the tattoo does not matter – a small tattoo carried a similar risk to a large one. However, a different Danish twin study suggested that tattoos larger than a palm might increase the risk even further.

So why does it happen? How could injecting a permanent foreign substance into your body possibly lead to cancer? Well, the researchers proposed a few ways…

  • Ink Migration: Your immune system treats tattoo ink as a foreign substance. Pigment particles can be transported to the lymph nodes, where they may cause chronic, low-grade inflammation.
  • Chemical Carcinogens: Many tattoo inks contain substances like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, azo dyes, and heavy metals like cadmium or lead, which are known/suspected carcinogens.
  • UV Interaction: Sunlight can cause some ink pigments to break down into harmful chemical by-products.

Don’t freak out completely though. The scientific evidence overall is actually mixed. While the Swedish and Danish studies found increased risks of skin cancer and lymphoma, other recent research has shown different results.

For example, A 2025 study in France found no overall association between tattoos and skin cancer.

And funnily enough, A 2025 study from the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Utah suggested that people with multiple tattoos might have a lower risk of melanoma, possibly due to a boosted immune response from repeated sessions.

So who knows what the truth is? It really could be anything. Either way, keep using sunscreen and getting regular skin checks. We can’t avoid everything in life that causes cancer, but it’s best to be on the safe side where you can.

For the UK rapper who got a Bet365 tattoo after making 7 figures on the app, click HERE.

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