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Latest Tattoo News.

Sacred Tattoo Ink products bacterial contamination.

Recent news in tattoo health includes studies published in 2024 and 2025 linking tattoos to an increased risk of lymphoma, and an FDA alert in May 2025 about specific brands of tattoo ink contaminated with harmful bacteria, necessitating a warning for consumers and artists to avoid them. Research also indicates that tattoo ink particles migrate to lymph nodes, potentially introducing toxins and contributing to health issues over time.

Cancer Risk Research

• Lymphoma Link: Multiple studies, including a 2024 Swedish study published in eClinicalMedicine and a 2025 Danish twin study, found an association between getting a tattoo and an increased risk of developing lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.

• Ink Migration & Accumulation: Research shows that tattoo ink doesn't stay in the skin but moves into the lymphatic system and accumulates in lymph nodes, where it can be detected decades later. 

• Tattoo Size: A 2025 Danish study suggested that tattoos larger than the size of a palm may pose a greater risk for lymphoma. 

• Mechanism: Scientists are investigating how ink particles affect lymph nodes to understand the biological mechanisms and assess potential health risks. 

Contaminated Tattoo Ink

• FDA Warning: In May 2025, the FDA issued an alert advising consumers, tattoo artists, and retailers to avoid specific contaminated Sacred Tattoo Ink products due to bacterial contamination. 

• Contaminants: These inks contained bacteria harmful to human health, a discovery made through the FDA's routine surveillance of marketed inks. 

• Transmission Risk: The presence of bacteria in tattoo inks poses a risk of infection and injury, as well as the potential transmission of viral infections like hepatitis B and C. 

What You Should Do 

• Ask About Inks: Ask your tattoo artist about the inks they use and their sterility.

• Report Adverse Experiences: Report any adverse health experiences related to tattoos to the FDA's SmartHub reporting system.

• Consult Professionals: Healthcare professionals and consumers should be aware of these findings and report any concerns.

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TATTOO HISTORICAL FACTS

Can You Read These Tattoo History Facts Without Wanting to Get Inked?

allthatsinteresting.com

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Tattoos were once used as a form of identification.

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Native Americans who couldn’t read English would sometimes draw pictures of their tattoos in lieu of signing their names.

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Drunken sailors would also rely on tattoos to prove their identity, since they often failed to keep track of physical documents.

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Then, with the 1936 invention of social security numbers, all kinds of people were going to parlors to get the eight digits permanently painted into their skin.

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You've definitely heard of the person whose breakthroughs allowed for the invention of the tattoo gun.

The electric pen – which revolutionized the art of tattooing by making it quicker, cheaper, and accessible to everyone – was actually invented by Thomas Edison.

Though the famous mind behind the lightbulb had intended the creation to reproduce handwritten manuscripts, he accidentally ended up giving himself a few tattoo dots as he was testing it out.

They used to be a symbol of "high class" in America.

After the Prince of Wales got tatted up on an 1862 visit to Jerusalem, many other royals around Europe quickly followed suit.

By the 1890s, members of American high society were desperate to get in on the trend.

New York locals offered the artist behind some of the royal ink $12,000 to open a shop in the city.

By 1900, 75 percent of the Big Apple’s most fashionable women sported designs ranging from birds to butterflies to calligraphy.

Some tattoos needed wardrobe upgrades.

During wartime, soldiers keenly missed the company of women. But with tattoos of naked or scantily clad ladies, they never had to feel so alone again.

Eventually, the Navy banned the ever-present porn. So soldiers hoping to make it into that prestigious class needed their tattoos to clean up their act. A booming “cover-up” business began with soldiers paying tattoo artists to put some clothes on their lady friends.

When one artist was charged with spreading disease due to unclean needles, he argued that he was doing “essential war work.” His fine was reduced and he was told to carry on.

You know the Macy's logo? Yeah, that's a tattoo.

R.H. Macy got the five-pointed red star tattooed on his hand as a teenager on a whaling ship in 1837.

The star was thought to symbolize the American flag and the compass rose.

Not all of the early tattoos were fashionable.

Olive Oatman never wanted the face tattoo that made her famous. But when she was captured by Native Americans in 1851, her chin was permanently marked with a blue tribal design.

After killing most of her family, the tribe enslaved Olive and her younger sister.

Though Oatman later claimed that the tattoo was meant to mark her as a slave, scholars suspect it was actually intended as a symbol of belonging, meant to help Olive enter the after-life.Wikimedia Commons

Having tattoos was once a full-time job.

Sailors were the first to realize that their heavily inked bodies were so intriguing to the general public that people would pay to get a closer look.

Eventually, sideshow acts began popping up all over the city.

Nora Hildebrandt holds a legacy as “the first professional tattooed lady.”

Trying to cash in on the fame of Olive Oatman, she spread rumors that she had been kidnapped, tied to a tree, and forcibly tattooed once every day for a year.

In reality, she was mostly inked by her own father – America’s first tattoo artist.

Tattoos were banned in New York from 1961 until 1997.

Though the ban was reportedly a response to outbreaks of Hepatitis B, undercover shops persisted and were rarely shut down by police.

Tattoo designs were even drawn on window shades in the 1960s so they could be easily hidden in case of a raid.

At least one president had one.

Can you guess which U.S. President sported his family’s seal on his chest? Most history buffs wouldn’t be surprised.

Theodore Roosevelt, the universally accepted tough guy of the Oval Office, is the only confirmed president with ink. But rumors suggest Andrew Jackson and Franklin D. Roosevelt had secret body art.

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Women and tattoos go way back.

The idea that ink is a sign of promiscuity, which is still commonly held today, began in the mid 1900s.

There were even several instances when New York courts ruled against a woman plaintiff seeking harassment charges solely because of her body art.

Eventually though, women reclaimed the use of ink as a sign of power and independence – with many of the gallery’s portraits featuring survivors of breast cancer who have tattooed over their scars.

Cristian Petru Panaite was always intrigued by his grandfather’s tattoo.

It was a fairly small depiction of a woman and – although his grandfather didn’t like to discuss it – Panaite knew it must have been hard to get in 1950s communist Romania.

With this as his only window into the tattooing world, the New York Historical

TATTOO AFTERCARE NEWS

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DID YOU KNOW?

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)Trusted Source allows some fatty alcohols, such as cetearyl alcohol and cetyl alcohol, to be used in cosmetic products that are labeled “alcohol-free.” Unlike ethanol, fatty alcohols don’t dry out the skin.

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Coconut oil and tattoo aftercare

Polynesian people, such as Samoans, have long used coconut oil on their tattoos. They apply it after the tattoo is completed or when it heals. One supposed benefit is that it makes the design shine.

Some websites claim that coconut oil keeps the skin under your tattoo moist and protects against infection. Yet evidence is anecdotal, and there’s no scientific proof that it works.

Check with your doctor before putting coconut oil or any other unproven products on your tattoo.

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ResearchTrusted Source shows that red dyes, along with blue and black dyes, are also more likely to cause nonallergic skin reactions such as photosensitivity.

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