Analysis Version
v1
History
Back to Study: Red tattoos, ultraviolet radiation and skin cancer...
descriptive
Analysis v1
Strong Support

Red tattoos alone, without sun exposure, didn’t cause any skin tumors in mice.

14
Pro
0
Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

14

Community contributions welcome

14

Red tattoos, ultraviolet radiation and skin cancer in mice

Randomized Controlled Trial
Animal
2017 Nov

The scientists gave mice red tattoos with a chemical that might be harmful, but didn’t let them get any sun. No tumors showed up. So, the ink alone didn’t cause cancer without sunlight.

Contradicting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Red tattoos, ultraviolet radiation and skin cancer in mice

Score: 14
DOI: 10.1111/exd.13383

Similar Assertions

In mice that got sunburns from UV light, those with red tattoos got their third skin tumor a bit sooner and the tumors grew a little faster than in mice without tattoos.

14
0
88%

When tumors did appear in sun-exposed mice with red tattoos, they grew faster than tumors in mice without tattoos.

14
0
79%

The red ink used in the study contains a chemical (2-anisidine) that’s not allowed in human tattoos because it might cause cancer.

14
0
76%