Scientists have warned of an urgent need for more research into the long-term health impacts of tattoos after new research found they may increase the risk of lymphoma cancer.
Roughly one third of Americans have at least one tattoo, 2023 Pew Research Center surveys show
In a new study at Lund University in Sweden, researchers analyzed a group of 11,905 participants to explore whether tattoos could impact our risk of developing lymphoma
"We have identified people diagnosed with lymphoma via population registers," Christel Nielsen, who led the study, said in a statement
These individuals were then matched with a control group of the same sex and age, but without lymphoma.
"After taking into account other relevant factors, such as smoking and age, we found that the risk of developing lymphoma was 21 percent higher among those who were tattooed."
Because of this, the team had expected those with larger tattoos to be at a greater risk of lymphoma than those with smaller ones
because there is more ink in their bodies to respond to. However, the size did not seem to matter.