Can adding to a tattoo cause cancer?

[Do wuts best 4 U!]

Ok I dont know where I have heard this, but somehow i thought i heard that if you have a tattoo and then decide to add to it and /or tattoo more stuff on top of it, that the ink could go deeper in your skin and cause cancer?

is this true?

[Take This Life]

nah that sounds like bullshit, its not moving the ink further in coz when you cover up often you can still see the old ink underneath. its not going anywhere. I would love to see solid proof that tattoos can actually cause cancer, it seems to be somthing people who dont actually have tats run around screaming

[emucompboy]

Depends on the ink used.
If there's uranium in the ink, you can count on cancer in the future.

[wasprettyonce]

that sounds like someone who hasnt done there research is giving you bad advice.

Nothing iv ever seen or heard of used in tattoos can cause cancer... impropper care of the equipment can cause cross contamination though

[etrigone]

It's incorrect. The ink goes to the same depth regardless.

The only risk I've seen is that if you get a melanoma, the tattoo coloration might make it harder to notice. There was a link in about.com that talked about that.

Since the most common cause of melanomas is sun exposure, and sun tends to fade tattoos, good care for your tattoo can be synonymous with good care - and less cancer risk - for your skin.

(There was actually a CNN article that talked about how smoking causes skin damage similar to the sun, up to & including cancer risk, but that 's more of an aside).