Coorelation Between Tattoos and Melanoma

Updated on September 08, 2011
A.G. asks from Clinton, MA
8 answers

Hi everyone!
A friend of mine on f.b. just posted an article talking about the rise of cancer in tattooed individuals.. the article talks about the inks and how the body breaks the inks up distributing the ink into the body. It is possible carcinogenic materials are in some inks... scary stuff!! My friend then went on to say how that explains how she has had 3 melanoma spots only on tattooed skin.. Now I do have several good sized tattoos and this scares me a bit! I go to the dermatologist already so I am thinking of having a whole body check...
Has anyone experienced melanoma on their tattoos? Known anyone? Any input about other health related info about tattoos???
AND dont wanna hear "that's why I never got one blah blah"... if I wanted that I would call and talk to my mom about this, lol.. Thanks mommas!

What can I do next?

  • Add yourAnswer own comment
  • Ask your own question Add Question
  • Join the Mamapedia community Mamapedia
  • as inappropriate
  • this with your friends

So What Happened?

here is the article:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F20...

@rachel.. i just worry about stuff when i hear it or read it :) thanks for your input, you always have good reasoning! :)

Featured Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.G.

answers from Albuquerque on

Interesting.... I have known lots of people with various forms of cancer...& wouldnt you know it, that not one of them even had a tattoo.... .

2 moms found this helpful

More Answers

R.D.

answers from Richmond on

First off, if you have a family history of melanoma, you're more prone to those spots anyway... ditto if you are a sun worshiper... ditto if you're fair skinned.

I am covered in tattoos... my brother is not... guess which one of us has had a million biopsies? Not me! We both have red hair and freckles... some of his turned 'bad'... mine don't... I always said I was the cuter of the two ;)

This is why you should always, always go to a reputable, licensed tattoo artist (not TLCs shitty tattoo school, that show is an abomination) who uses approved and sterile inks, needles, and machines.

Other things you may not know about tattoos: you are more prone to having a serious allergic reaction to DIY hair dye. That one's true. A MYTH about tattoos is that you will become radioactive in an MRI... proven untrue.

For a long time, red inks were the only one's not approved; now they are. Green is the hardest color to have laser removed.

I call bullsh!t on the melanoma thing. I know my stuff, and I've been researching this for... forever. Do you have the origin of the article? Or is this another BS Facebook thing like 'If you don't repost this as your status, you'll have bad luck for 5 year'?

ETA: Thanks for posting the article, I'm still not convinced, not by a long shot. People also say vitamins are bad for you. Please... I'm not just saying this because I'm tattooed and plan on continuing with getting tattooed, I just said that it's been proven that the approved ink does NOT contain metal... just don't go to some ex-con's garage and get inked up, okay? ;) This is also why you always have to fill out paperwork before getting tattooed... they will NOT tattoo you if you have certain medical conditions and/or allergies.

It even says in the article it is unclear if tattoos have any cause in the pathogenesis of melanoma, basal cells, squamous cells, etc.

Key word there is 'if'... a biiiiig IF.

@a.m.a.n.d.a... that's what I'm here for ;) If I believed everything I read, I'd have rabies, cancer, cataracts, AIDS, mad cow disease, diarrhea, chronic heart problems, and be a deaf/mute ;)

8 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

D.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Whoa! Interesting. Can you post the link?

2 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

C.W.

answers from Santa Barbara on

Yikes, hardly a scientific article at all. It has a startling headline and absolutely nothing to back it up at all. I hate sensational articles like this! I would worry much more about putting sunscreen on your children.

2 moms found this helpful

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

I have a tattoo and I have never heard of that.

I do put sunscreen on it when I am out and it is visible so that the ink does not fade.

1 mom found this helpful

L.M.

answers from Dover on

Never heard that before. I have a tattoo and haven't had a problem. The people I do know that have had cancer of any kind do not have tattoos.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.Q.

answers from Los Angeles on

No. Don't believe it. My father died too young this year from melanoma. He also had a tattoo. It was the years in the surf that did it.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.C.

answers from Boston on

That article reads like propaganda IMO. My father worked in a tattoo shop while I was growing up, and my brother is a tattooist. I have met thousands of people over the course of my life who are tattooed, including everyone over 18 in my family. Now I don't know where all of the people I've met over the years are, obviously, but I would think that having been around this business for almost 40 years that if melanoma was that much of a risk I'd know at least one tattooed person who has gotten it and I do not. Yup...not one.

For Updates and Special Promotions
Follow Us

Related Questions