Tattoos and Cancer: A Myth Debunked
No, tattoos don’t cause blood or skin cancer. This is probably one of the most persistent myths over the years, perhaps also due to the reputation that tattoos carry for a counterculture lifestyle, and sometimes other health risks as well. But in some cases they can cause lymphoma type cancer.
Tattoos and Cancer:-
A tattoo works by injecting ink into the dermis-the second layer of skin. The ink in itself is just a compound of pigments that have been used through the ages without any recorded association with cancer.
Skin Cancer: While too much sun exposure does indeed raise a person’s risk of skin cancer, neither the tattoos themselves nor their inks have ever been proven to contribute to this sort of cancer. Furthermore, a few studies have even gone as far as to suggest that perhaps tattoos provide the immune system with a form of resistance to some types of skin cancer.
Blood Cancer: There is simply no science to back the idea of tattoos causing blood cancer. In fact, blood cancers are quite sophisticated diseases caused by anomalies in blood cells, and there is nothing in those anomalies that connects them to skin ink.
Factors Affecting Tattoo Safety:-
While tattoos themselves are pretty benign, here are a few factors to be aware of:
- Hygiene ensures that the tattoo artist is safe from infection and uses equipment correctly in a sterile way.
- Aftercare instructions may also help minimize infections and complications.
- Ink: Quality ink types are less likely to cause allergic reactions and more complications. But few inks have carvinogens just like sunscreen ingredients or food preservatives or coloring agents may cause cancer.
Thus, the fear that can be induced about tattoos being causing blood or skin cancer is not valid. Because tattoos are safe and enjoyable forms of self-expression when purchased from licensed artists and followed with proper hygiene and aftercare, there is no reason to remove them.