Studies on the risk of several cancers in people with tattoos will be carried out in France and Germany.
- Tattoo inks could cause cancer according to researchers.
- They will conduct a study on the link between tattoos and cancer for 20 years.
- Getting tattooed young could be an additional risk factor for cancer.
While in France, 7 million people have already succumbed to the trend of tattoos according to an Ifop study, their dangerousness will be studied and in particular their link with cancers of the kidneys, the bladder, the liver and particularly the lymph.
Tattoos and cancer: preliminary results in three years
The study will be conducted in France and Germany and will be carried out under the direction of Milena Foerster, epidemiologist at the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer: “We will follow 30,000 tattooed and 90,000 untattooed people.she told the magazine Capital.
Participants will be followed for 20 years. “The time required to observe the development of diseases“, according to the expert. The preliminary results should be available within three years.
Tattoo inks may contain harmful environmental and chemical contaminants classified as (probably) carcinogenic to humans, the researchers explain. These include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, primary aromatic amines and metals.
Tattoos: pigments travel under the skin
Furthermore, since most of the injected tattoo pigments, nanoparticle or microparticle in size, are known to travel to the local lymph node and from there potentially to other organs, the Systemic exposure is not limited to the skin, scientists warn:
“With such dimensions, there is no guarantee that they will remain in the lymph nodes. They can very well colonize other cells of the body or organs such as the liver, for example“, explains Milena Foerster.
This is particularly the case of titanium dioxide, a carcinogenic substance prohibited in food
Tattoos: erasing them with a laser is not without risk either
Exposure to tattoo ink is of particular concern among young people, as they will be exposed to the substance over the long term, reads Environmental Health Perspectives.
And once tattooed, difficult to get rid of without even more risk. Indeed, the WHO researcher is formal: it is better to avoid laser ablation if the tattoo is no longer suitable, she indicates in Capital :
“The technique will remobilize all the pigments and generate a massive release of toxic substances in the body.”
