From Denmark comes bad news for all tattoo lovers. Research carried out by the University of Southern Denmark, and published in the magazine BMC Public HealthIn fact, it reveals that the presence of a tattoo on the skin could prove to be a risk factor for the development of lymphomas and skin tumors.
The research used two different cohorts to study the connection between tattoos and tumors: one, wider, in which 2,300 twins were randomly selected in Denmark between 1960 and 1990, and a second, more narrowed, in which researchers concentrated attention on 316 individuals belonging to a pair of twins in which at least one of the two developed a skin tumor or lymphoma.
In the first group, the data collected by the researchers led to determine that tattooed had a quadruple risk of developing skin cancer, compared to non -tattooed twins. In the analysis of the subgroup of pairs of twins with a diagnosis of cancer, however, the risk of suffering from cancer was the higher than a percentage between 33 and 62 percent for tattooed subjects. In both cases, the link emerged only for large tattoos: higher than those of the palm of one hand.
As it has been carried out, the study does not allow to establish a causal link between tattoos and tumors: it indicates only a greater prevalence of neoplasms in the tattooed population, without being able to establish whether the cause is the tattoos, and not perhaps other more frequent risk factors in these people (such as life styles).
If the bond was also confirmed, moreover, it is not said that all tattoos pose the same health risks. “In our study we have not seen a precise bond between the onset of cancer and specific ink colors, but this does not mean that the question is irrelevant,” explains Signe Bedsted Clemensen, a biostatisty of the University of Southern Denmark who guided the research. “We know from other research, inks can contain potentially harmful substances, such as red inks, which more often cause allergic reactions. It is an aspect that we would like to study more deeply in the future “.
In recent years, a report commissioned by the European Commission had revealed that most of the inks used for tattoos had never been approved for cosmetic use, and that some contained potentially carcinogenic substances within them, leading to a new European legislation on the subject approved in 2020. For this reason, it is possible that the link between tattoos and tumors, at least in the European territory, will be less and less evident.
It is good to underline that the risks that emerged in the study, in absolute terms, are not particularly high. It should therefore not be taken as an alarm, or a death sentence. But rather as more information, to ensure the possibility of making a choice as informed as possible to those who decide to make a tattoo.