Statistics Show Lower Hepatitis Risk in Tattoo Shops than in Dentists' offices

The health risks associated with commercial tattooing are often exaggerated when individuals or groups mount campaigns to prohibit the opening of tattoo shops in their community, according to news accounts from across the U.S.

By the mid 1990s, according to U.S. News & World Report, tattooing had become one of America's fastest growing categories of retail business. There were now an estimated 15,000 tattoo studios in operation as the once-taboo practice of body-marking continued to gain broader acceptance and popularity throughout mainstream society.
As part of this cultural change, growing numbers of professional tattoo artists are opening -- and attempting to open -- studios in middle-class cities and towns that have never had such establishments in their business districts.
Inaccurate Risk Allegations
Reports indicate that the ensuing public debate routinely includes grossly inaccurate pronouncements about the health risks of tattooing. Some local newspapers and TV stations have stated, implied or suggested in their reports that tattooing may involve unusually high risks related to the transmission of such diseases as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.
Letters to the editor in some publications have often flatly stated that tattoo shops are major sources for AIDS and Hepatitis. For instance, one letter to a community newspaper in southern New Jersey charged that tattooing was involved in "the terrible price paid by loss of human life to AIDS" and went on to mention Hepatitis in a similar manner.
In response, local New Jersey tattoo artist Patrick Levins wrote: "While I understand how the debate about America's shifting cultural attitudes toward tattooing can get emotional, I think responsible citizens will agree it's important to address such health issues factually and logically."
Federal Disease Experts
One place where local citizens and journalists can find authoritative information about the epidemiology -- or the transmission and risk -- of AIDS and Hepatitis is the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

CDC is the nation's foremost authority on communicable diseases. It plays the leading role in investigating and documenting the patterns andcauses of AIDS and Hepatitis throughout the United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., the CDC maintains a large World-Wide Web site (www.cdc.gov) on which it regularly publishes and permanently archives in-depth information about its findings. It also makes its data available for free to newspapers, local libraries, public health agencies and any local government official or citizen who requests it.

CDC categorizes tattooists as "personal service workers" along with hairdressers, barbers, manicurists, acupuncturists, and massage therapists. Since the early 1980s, this overall category of workers has received intense scrutiny in ongoing CDC investigations of how the HIV virus that causes AIDS is spread.
Brief but Dramatic: CDC AIDS Data
The CDC summary data about tattooing and HIV is as brief as it is dramatic. In its HIV/AIDS Surveillance Reports, CDC has consistently noted that it has documented "no cases of HIV transmission through tattooing" anywhere in the country since it began tracking such data in 1985 [1]. By comparison, there have been at least 7 cases of HIV transmission associated with dentists and dental workers.
Hepatitis: More Dentists Than Tattoos
About hepatitis: Of the 13,387 annual cases of hepatitis detailed in the most recent CDC report, 12 are associated with tattoo studios. By comparison, 43 cases -- or better than 300% more -- are associated with dental offices [2].
Both numbers would appear to represent low levels of hepatitis risk -- a risk that has been further reduced by new safety procedures required by state law of both dental offices and tattoo studios.
Some political pundits have noted that, given the statistics, community activists who are sincerely concerned about the potential spread of AIDS or hepatitis would do better to concentrate on local dentists rather than local prospective tattoo shop operators.
Other observers point out that while it is important to be vigilant for potential community health problems, there is no documentable basis to support public allegations that the process of contemporary commercial tattooing is an unreasonably disease-prone one.
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[1] The HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report is published regularly by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most recent, published in December, 1997, is entitled "Estimated incidence of AIDS and deaths of persons with AIDS, adjusted for delays in reporting, by quarter-year of diagnosis/death, United States, January 1985 through June 1997."
[2] Hepatitis Surveillance, Report Number 56, April, 1996, Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

How good would a tattoo?

Wait 12 months after a tattoo if the tattoo was applied in a state that does not regulate tattoo facilities. This requirement is related to concerns about hepatitis. Acceptable if the tattoo was applied by a state-regulated entity using sterile technique. Only a few states currently regulate tattoo facilities, so most donors with tattoos must wait 12 months after tattoo application before donating blood. You should discuss your particular situation with the health historian at the time of donation.

When you go to a blood bank to give plasma, they ask you a series of questions to determine if you are eligible to donate. Obviously, they don't want to risk accepting contaminated blood, so they will ask about your sexual history, current health status and other related questions, including whether or not you have gotten a tattoo or piercing within the last twelve months.
All blood that is donated is screened for diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis, Syphilis and other common blood-born ailments. However, it goes without saying that it is a waste of the blood bank's and the donor's time to harvest blood that is tainted and thus worthless. In order to avoid wasted time, they ask these questions to screen the potential donor. And although tattooing and piercing are much safer than some medical professionals like to indicate, there is still always a chance of getting and carrying a disease unknowingly. Especially Hepatitis, which has been the object of many heated arguments and stringent regulations.
If you should happen to contract a disease from a tattoo or piercing, it should show up in a screening after 12 months, which is the reason for the waiting period. Yes, maybe it's a little over-precautious, but would you want to be the one on the receiving end of dirty blood? If there is even a slight chance, it is better to be safe than sorry.

Regulated States
The only exception to the waiting period rule is if the tattoo was received in a state that regulates the tattoo industry. Currently, on a few states do this, but laws are always changing so contact your local blood bank to find out if you live in one of these states. In more recent months, some blood banks have relaxed their eligibility rules in regards to tattoos, so there is also the slight chance one of these donation centers are in your area. Contacting them is always the best way to know for sure.
So, if body art and blood donation are both important to you, you have a very important decision to make. Sacrificing your own desires for the benefit of others is always commendable. If that is your wish, you might have to put the tattoo or piercing off for a while. On the other hand, it doesn't make you selfish to decide in favor of body art, as long as you don't forget that helping others will always provide you with even more satisfaction; and there are certainly other ways that you can be of assistance to those in need. So, if you can't give your blood, enjoy your art and reach out to someone with your money, time and your love instead.