Policy Proposal: A Uniform Body Art Code

In the past few years, there has been tremendous growth in the popularity of body art, and expansion of the commonly performed procedures to include dangerous and permanent piercing, tattoos and implants. This increased popularity has created a demand for increased regulation of the body art industry on a broader scale than the currently existing “patchwork” of state laws and regulations. As piercing and tattoos become more socially acceptable and mainstream, more shops are opening up to meet the increased demand. The most important aspect of this situation that needs to be addressed is the possible public health hazards that the application of body art by inexperienced and unregulated merchants can introduce. Another important aspect of this situation that needs to be addressed is the increased popularity of body art and self-modification among adolescents. The choices young people are making concerning body art are having permanent consequences with some of these new, more permanent procedures and implants.

One way to increase oversight and regulation on the body art industry would be for the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) to enumerate a “body art code.” Under this code, all tattoo and body art shops must be licensed by their respective states in order to operate. Even though the states’ licensing procedures must be reviewed and overseen by the NEHA to ensure compliance with the code, states would have large amounts of discretion as to increased regulation above and beyond the stipulations in the code. These merchant licenses would have to be renewed at regular intervals, also at the states discretion within a certain limit, upon successful inspection by qualified state sanitary and medical inspectors. The need for inspections and licenses will ensure that all shops will be in compliance with at least the minimum NEHA guidelines outlined in the code. The incentive here is that without a valid license, the shop could not do business.

The uniform body art code would be written and maintained by the NEHA, and would contain the basic rules and standards that any tattoo, piercing or body art shop in the country would have to follow. Some body modification procedures may be restricted to some or all age groups. This may prevent young people from expressing their individuality or rebelling in ways that would be potentially permanent and harmful to their health and well being while still allowing them the liberty to obtain the more mainstream procedures, such as smaller tattoos and most standard piercing with parental consent under a certain age. The code’s standards of operation would ensure that all body art shops would adhere to certain procedures in dealing with training, sanitation, the reuse of needles and the sterilization of tools and instruments to prevent risk of the spread of hepatitis, HIV, or other blood-borne pathogens.

The main changes in currently existing procedure that would be caused by this policy would be in the implementation of the licensing and inspection provisions. Some states already have licensing bureaus for this purpose and would fit into the policy quite easily. Other states completely outlaw tattooing or piercing and would also fit into this policy easily, since it is at the states’ discretions, beyond the minimal body art code, how strict they want to be in granting licenses and what additional rules they want to impose. The oversight of the NEHA would ensure that the states have proper inspection officials and routines to ensure that the code is being adhered to.

Except for the most dangerous procedures and the younger age groups, the consumer should be affected minimally by this policy. The aim of this policy is to ensure acceptable public health and protect the consumer with a minimal impact on his or her rights. For those states that already have reasonable licensing and inspection procedures, or that would not allow any such merchants to operate, there would be minimal impact as far as procedural modifications, or bureaucratic complications. Their inspections and licensing policies would just have to be verified, by the NEHA, to be in compliance with the new code. The biggest complication with this policy would be implementing inspection and licensing schemes in those states that do not already have such policy in place. Inspectors and licensing officials would have to be trained, or hired, to enforce the code. In most cases, it may be possible that money from the NEHA federal budget would be put towards implementing the systems in these states.

With a complete and reasonable body art code stating the rules and standards, the risk of the spread of diseases will be reduced. The incentive for shopkeepers to follow the code and any additional regulations imposed by their state is that without a license, a merchant cannot legally operate. This procedure does not infringe on the rights of the states to impose their own regulations above and beyond the basic code. It would, however, sacrifice some of the public’s liberties to have some of these procedures performed, and would also undermine equity between the younger age groups and adults. Even though the policy is designed to be efficient and not complicated, it would introduce officials, procedures and oversights for states, state agencies and the NEHA at the federal level. These sacrifices in liberty, equity, and efficiency would be greatly outweighed, however, by the policy’s main goals: to maintain the security of the public’s health, and to protect the younger people of this country.