Every idiot that thinks they can buy a tattoo machine and start inking up their friends always seems to forgets one key element - the prevention of cross-contamination. This is the part that can make your "clients" really sick or even kill them, but your average scratcher usually doesn't pay any attention to it. As long as they've got a working machine, a needle and some ink, that's all they need to become the next great tattoo artist, right? It's time for a wake-up call, folks.
What is Cross Contamination?
First of all, what is cross-contamination? The glossary describes it as "the spreading of germs, bacteria and/or disease by carrying them from an infected area to a non-infected area". To make this more simple, let's take a look inside your own home. We'll use the kitchen as an example.
I think most people realize that we can't see germs and bacteria, although we acknowledge that they can be found everywhere. Kitchens are especially prone to these tiny organisms due to the presence of foods that we prepare and eat there. Raw meats are very likely to be contaminated with bacteria such as Staph, Salmonella, and E-coli which can make you very sick if you ingest it.
If you prepare a hamburger tainted with bacteria and then go wash your hands, you have just contaminated the faucet you touched to turn the water on. So the next time you touch that faucet, even if your hands are clean, you re-contaminate your hands. Now if you go and touch someone's plate, they may touch their fully-cooked (and now safe) hamburger on that tiny area you touched and re-contaminate their meat.
If you think this is very unlikely or a little over-the-top, check this out. "The National Center for Health Statistics estimates that between 6.5 million to 33 million cases of food borne illness occur in the United States each year. Worldwide, the numbers grow to staggering proportions...As many as 9,000 people in the United States alone, die yearly."
Blood-Borne Pathogens and You
OK, this has little to do with tattooing or body piercing, right? Wrong. The above was an example of food-borne pathogens - microorganisms that make people sick and die every year from food. The scary thing is, food-borne pathogens are nothing compared to blood-borne pathogens. This is where this article applies to you.
Blood-borne pathogens are the microorganisms that carry infection like Staph and MRSA, Hepatitis, HIV, AIDS, and a host of other illnesses. This isn't a little tummy ache from Aunt Sally's bad potato salad we're talking about. These are serious diseases that can be carried in people's blood, many times without them even knowing it. When you tattoo or pierce someone, you come in contact with blood and bodily fluids. If you do not know exactly what to do to prevent those fluids from touching and contaminating any other surfaces, you are putting lives at risk every time you tattoo or pierce someone, including yourself.
When you tattoo someone, everything becomes contaminated. The ink is contaminated, the machine is contaminated, the needle is contaminated, the tube is contaminated, your gloves are contaminated and sometimes even the air around you is contaminated. Your work station is a hazard, your client is a hazard, your equipment are hazards and even that stick of deodorant you use can cross-contaminate from one client to the next. Germs, bacteria and blood-borne pathogens are everywhere. You can't see them, you can't prevent them - the only thing you can do is prevent them from becoming a threat to you and your customers. If you don't know how to do that, then you have no right putting a tattoo needle or piercing needle to anyone's skin, period.
And if you're a client who thinks it's cool that your friend's uncle has a set-up in his kitchen and is willing to give you a really good deal on that tattoo or piercing, you had better listen up. This is why it's more expensive to get a tattoo in a professional studio, because it costs money to properly sterilize equipment and test it for any trace of contamination. If they didn't clean anything, they wouldn't have to charge as much either. But you get what you pay for, people. Go ahead and complain about those high prices - but just remember that every time you get a "deal" on a tattoo or piercing, you're probably putting your life at risk. If you don't think your health and life are worth a few extra bucks, then you agree to accept whatever consequences you endure as a result of your own stupidity.
Recognizing Errors
Licensed tattoo and piercing studios follow strict guidelines set by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), OSHA, and their local health department. The CDC's list of rules for the prevention of cross-contamination of blood-borne pathogens is 32 pages long. The meticulous care it takes to prevent the spread of invisible microorganisms is mind blowing, and is something that takes a professional months and months of training and practice to perfect. And then they have to submit regular spore tests to a lab, proving that their sterilization process is working. Do you think anyone working out of their home is doing any of that? They may give the illusion of cleanliness, but there are a lot of tiny mistakes that can be made in the blink of an eye that can put you at risk. Would you even recognize it if your artist made a safety error?
Wearing gloves doesn't make an artist magically safe. They are safe only for as long as the surface of the gloves remain untouched by any other object. The instant they come into contact with anything, they are just as much of a risk as wearing no gloves at all. If the artist doesn't thoroughly wash their hands before putting the gloves on, just the act of donning the gloves could contaminate them with whatever might be on their hands. If they wash their hands but then touch a dirty faucet to turn off the water, then washing their hands was pointless. If they wash their hands, put on gloves, and then touch their face, open a door or answer the phone, those gloves are no longer a barrier between you and the organisms they've come in contact with.
That's just an example of the first five minutes or so when getting a tattoo or piercing. There are so many things that can be overlooked by someone who hasn't been properly trained and/or doesn't have the proper equipment and sterilization products. Single-use, disposable needles and tubes are being used by many artists, but that doesn't automatically make them safe either. Any time your skin is broken, you're sending out an open invitation for bacteria, so you have to be 100 percent confident in the abilities of your artist before you allow them to touch you. Hopefully, you think highly enough of yourself to expect only the best of care when you sit in a chair and put yourself at the mercy of someone else. Life is already short - don't make it shorter by making poor decisions.
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