Who Tattoos? Anyone who wants to, say critics seeking better regulations

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Who Tattoos? Anyone who wants to, say critics seeking better regulations

By Andersen

Apr 11, 2006

When Keller wanted to become a manicurist, she had to prove she'd

taken 500 hours of beauty school classes and pass a written test

administered by the state of Washington.

When the cosmetologist, who works at Contempo Designs in West Kelso, decided

to add tattoos to her repertoire, she didn't need to prove she knew a thing.

In Washington, said Keller, " anybody can do tattooing. "

As tattoos -- ink patterns injected on the body by repeatedly puncturing the

skin with clusters of needles --- become more and more common in modern

culture, some citizens and tattoo artists have begun to call for tighter

regulation of the age-old practice.

Like a manicure or any other open wound, an unsafe tattoo can become a

portal for viruses such as Hepatitis B, which can survive on a surface for

months and, upon infection, seriously damage the liver. But such risks

haven't stopped tattoos from surging in popularity since the 1970s.

Some say Washington has failed to keep up with the times.

" Your state, for want of a better word, just wants to put their head in the

mud, " said Bill of Orlando, Fla., secretary of the Alliance of

Professional Tattooists. In February, the state Senate unanimously approved

a bill that would have required inspections and licenses for all tattoo and

piercing shops, at an estimated annual cost to taxpayers of $1 million. The

measure died in the House.

" Many in the Legislature feel that the time is right to regulate the

tattooing and piercing industry, " said Brad Benfield, a spokesman for the

Washington Department of Licensing. " They just couldn't agree on how this

year. "

While many health officials and tattoo artists say the industry needs more

oversight, they're not sure how to do that. Should the government require

licenses? Perform inspections? Up the penalties for violating current law?

Wait for their industry to solve its own problems?

Tattoo artists frequently argue that even under current law, the best

parlors are as safe and clean as a doctor's office. The problem, they say,

lies with the bad ones.

" Eight-five percent of the shops in the state are scary to walk into, " said

Gilhuly, owner of Outside the Box in Longview.

Like most tattooists, Gilhuly is passionate that the worst parlors must

improve. Like many, he's open to increased regulation, but isn't quite sure

how it would work. He's more comfortable talking about the ways his

colleagues could better regulate one another: requiring longer

apprenticeships, keeping consumers better informed.

[A previous version of this story, and today's print edition, misattributed

the last two paragraphs to another local tattooist.]

But others think that system has failed.

For Reay of Longview, whose underage granddaughter says she was

illegally tattooed by a man working out of his kitchen, one key is to keep

tattoos out of private homes. He plans to ask the city of Longview to

require this of tattooists.

It's impossible, Reay believes, to guarantee that any part of a home could

be fully sterile. " It's a legitimate business, " he said. " They should have a

legitimate store. "

Still others, like Goodrow of Punktured Tattoo in Longview, say

current laws might be enough if enforcement were stricter.

A 2001 state law required the state to set sanitation standards for

tattooists. For example, artists are now forbidden from reusing needles,

required to put their equipment through regular spore tests, and must

sterilize their ink barrels in a steam autoclave or dry-heat sterilizer.

But the rules rely on local police for enforcement. All violations are

merely misdemeanors, which makes them a low priority for many departments.

And even if a tattooist is convicted, the state can't threaten to pull a

nonexistent license.

If laws are flawed, it's because the state needs time to work the kinks out,

said Troy Amundson, a Seattle body artist.

" Our industry is new, " said Amundson, who has led body artists' recent

lobbying efforts in Olympia. " We will have to get some laws in place, work

with them for a little while. "

Rapidly tightening the laws might be dangerous, Amundson said. The more the

state requires of legitimate artists, the more it invites others to operate

beneath the radar.

Amundson believes his industry will gradually develop better

" self-regulation, " developing schools and national networks to share safe

practices. In the meantime, he thinks good tattooists tend to be cleaner

than many dental assistants, barbers and, yes, manicurists.

" There are plenty of exposures that people don't think about, " he said.

Finally, there are tattooists like Keller, who now offers cosmetic tattoos

such as lip and eyelash accents. She says she keeps her clients

well-informed of her rigorous sanitary procedures.

But when it comes to regulation, she sounds like almost any other small

businesswoman.

" I think we're OK the way we are, " she said. " I just hate for government to

step in too much. "

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Tattoo safety

The Daily News asked three local tattooists Goodrow of Punktured

Tattoo and Piercing, Gilhuly of Outside the Box, and Keller of

Contempo Designs, for advice on choosing a good shop.

• Ask the artist to describe, in detail, how, when and where he or she

learned to tattoo. Ask if the artist has been tattooing continuously since.

• Ask to see certificates from a blood-borne pathogen class, from the Red

Cross or Alliance of Professional Tattooists.

• Look for a separate sterilization area, used for nothing but cleaning and

set off from the client by a wall and a good deal of space.

• If the shop reuses any equipment involved in the tattoo process, it should

have an autoclave. You want one that looks like a small oven, not a campfire

stove.

• Disposable plastic barrels are safer than metal ones.

• Ask to watch the artist open the disposable needles. Reusing needles is

illegal.

• Carpets can't be fully cleaned.

• Wastebaskets should be covered.

• If the artist invites you into the sterilization area to show you all

this, that's trouble. Clients shouldn't be allowed in there.

• Ask when the equipment went through its last spore test: more than six

months is bad news.

• Most tattoo infections don't come from the shop itself, they come from

unsafe practices after you leave. A shop should keep a prepared list of

rules for you to follow when you get home.

http://www.tdn.com/articles/2006/04/11/top_story/news01.txt

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