Do Tattoos Cause Cancer? What Studies Show

In 2024 and 2025, two research teams in northern Europe published studies on tattoos and cancer. Both reported higher rates of lymphoma or skin cancer in tattooed people. Headlines followed quickly, and many of them dropped the caveats the researchers themselves put in writing. Here is what the two studies actually measured.

Researchers used Swedish national registers. They found every new case of malignant lymphoma diagnosed between 2007 and 2017 in people aged 20 to 60. For each case they picked three controls, meaning people without lymphoma, of the same age and sex. Tattoo history came from a questionnaire sent out in 2021.

The study population was 11,905 people. Only 54% of cases and 47% of controls answered, which matters — the people who reply to a survey may differ from those who do not. Tattoos were reported by 21% of people with lymphoma and 18% of controls.

The headline number: tattooed people had 1.21 times the rate of lymphoma overall. The confidence interval, the range the true value likely falls in, was 0.99 to 1.48. Because that range includes 1.0, the result did not reach statistical significance. In plain terms, chance has not been ruled out.

The ratio was highest, at 1.81, in people whose first tattoo was less than two years before diagnosis. The authors concluded that tattoo exposure was associated with a higher lymphoma risk. Our overview of lymphoma explains the disease.

The second study came from the Danish Twin Registry. Twins are useful here because siblings share genes and often share childhood exposures, which strips out some confounding. The team ran two designs: a cohort of 2,367 randomly chosen twins, and a case-cotwin study of 316 twins born between 1960 and 1996. Cancer diagnoses came from the Danish Cancer Registry. Tattoo status came from a 2021 survey.

In the case-cotwin arm, tattooed people had 1.62 times the hazard of skin cancer (95% CI 1.08 to 2.41). For tattoos larger than the palm of a hand, the hazard was 2.37 for skin cancer and 2.73 for lymphoma. The cohort arm found a hazard of 3.91 for skin cancer (95% CI 1.42 to 10.8). These are wide ranges, which means the true size of any effect is uncertain.

The authors wrote that the study suggests an increased hazard of lymphoma and skin cancers among tattooed people. Like the Swedish work, it shows a link, not cause.

The biology behind the worry is not speculation. Tattooing injects pigment below the skin surface and sets off an immune response. Immune cells carry pigment particles away from the injection site into the lymphatic system, and pigment deposits in nearby lymph nodes have been confirmed. The Swedish authors note that tattoo ink often contains primary aromatic amines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and metals, and that some of these are carcinogenic. They also say the long-term health effects of pigment in lymph nodes remain unclear. Whether this leads to cancer is not known.

Both studies are observational. Nobody was randomly assigned a tattoo. So tattooed and untattooed people can differ in other ways that affect cancer rates. Also, tattoo history in both studies came from surveys in 2021. In the Swedish study, only about half of the people invited answered (54% of cases and 47% of controls), and people who reply may differ from those who do not.

The FDA lists these risks. Cancer is not on its list:

• Infection. Unsterile needles can transmit HIV, hepatitis, and bacterial skin infections. Contaminated ink has caused infections even when proper hygiene was followed.
• Blood donation. A tattoo from an unregulated facility, or one using unsterile equipment, may stop you from giving blood or plasma for twelve months.
• Allergic reactions. Rare with tattoo pigments, but they can be troublesome because the pigments can be hard to remove.
• Granulomas. Nodules that can form around pigment particles.
• Keloids. Scars that grow beyond normal boundaries, a particular risk in people prone to them.
• MRI effects. Swelling, burning, or image interference can occur. The FDA says the risk of skipping a recommended MRI is greater than the tattoo-related risk, so tell the radiologist and do not skip a needed scan.
• Removal. The FDA calls removal a painstaking process that usually takes several treatments and considerable expense.

Also note what is not approved. No color additive is approved for injection into the skin, and many pigments are industrial-grade materials not meant for skin contact.

Two studies found higher cancer rates in tattooed people. The Swedish result was not statistically significant, and both relied on surveys. That is a signal worth following, not proof. Sensible steps are the same as for anyone: protect your skin from the sun, and get new or changing skin spots looked at, including ones on a tattoo. For related claims, see our page on talcum powder.

• Nielsen C, Jerkeman M, Jöud AS, Tattoos as a risk factor for malignant lymphoma: a population-based case-control study, EClinicalMedicine 2024;72:102649, accessed August 6, 2026
• Clemmensen SB, Mengel-From J, Kaprio J, et al., Tattoo ink exposure is associated with lymphoma and skin cancers — a Danish study of twins, BMC Public Health 2025;25:170, accessed August 6, 2026
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Tattoos & Permanent Makeup: Fact Sheet, content current as of October 15, 2024, accessed August 6, 2026