The Daily Orange

Media Credit: Mackenzie Reiss

Kim Leach flipped on the tattoo machine and pressed it against David Giangiobbe's stomach - his abdomen tightened, he clenched his jaw.

He was getting his 12th tattoo, a rather symbolic one for him - a man coming out from the scar on his chest, reaching over the angel of death and looking to a Picasso-interpretation of God.
Leach stopped for a minute, as Giangiobbe, a resident of Baldwinsville, relaxed his body. But as soon as she turned the machine on again, his muscles tensed up once more in anticipation of the pain.

She took her time, making sure the tattoo looked exactly like the original drawing they made together.

"I need a license to cut hair," Leach said, looking up from her cringing patron. "But I don't need one to scar him - which will last for the rest of his life."

'Not a one-size-fits-all solution'

Regulations for New York State tattoo parlors have been in the works for more than a decade, but not much progress has been made.

"On a state level, regulations are in development at this point," said Beth Goldberg, a spokesperson for the New York Health Department. "I can't give a date when they are ready, though. There are several steps to go through."

Goldberg said there are counties in New York that govern tattoo parlors despite the fact that there are no laws dictated by the state. Onondaga County is not one of these counties, leaving tattoo parlor owners in the Syracuse area free to decide by what standards their shops should abide.

"We pride ourselves on following industry standard, because state hasn't set any," said John Joyce of Scarab Body Arts in Armory Square, Syracuse. "A lot of studios are really lacking on their own personal regulations, they don't stay up to date. Any regulation set in another city or state - we follow it."

The only law New York State requires is that tattooists are not allowed to work on anyone under 18 years old or anyone under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

But Joyce said this isn't enough. In order for tattoo parlors to provide the safest possible experience for patrons, there must be some sort of uniform standard, especially for the young parlors.

"Too many places are opening up that don't understand the whole safety side, so they need to teach people the basics of what to touch and what not to touch," he said.

DJ Rose of Halo Tattoo on Marshall Street said regulations are important for the industry, but health boards must be careful not to impose on the way shops are run.

"People are setting up their shop the way they want to, so there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. These regulations need careful looking into. Tattooing is a strange sewing machine, not everyone can do it."

He said he hopes possible regulations ensure sterilization and would make it more difficult for unskilled artists to open their own parlors. Equipment is easily accessible, so these regulations need to make sure not just anyone can start inking, he said.

Because of this accessibility, tattoo parlors are popping up all over, including three which have opened in Armory Square within the past year.

Anyone can start tattooing, which Leach of Phoenix Rising tattoo parlor said is the greatest problem with the industry - the lack of education.

"Anyone can draw, but that doesn't mean they can use a needle," she said.

Horror story

Giangiobbe walked into a tattoo parlor several years ago when he wanted to get his first tattoo. He took two steps in and immediately left.

"There was a cloud of yellow smoke when I walked in," he said. "The whole place was filled with cigarette smoke. It was disgusting."

The artists were working on patients with cigarettes in their mouths, using the same latex to clean and smoke, leaving patients subject to infection.

He never went back to that place. Instead, he found Phoenix Rising and Leach, who has seen her fair share of tattoo nightmares.

Before tattooing, Leach worked in Crouse Hospital as a nurse. She was working one night when a patient came with an infected leg. The patient's tattoo had become infected because of unclean equipment used and improper care.

"We had to shave the flesh off of their leg to remove the infection," she said. "It was not pleasant."

Tattoo artists, including Joyce, Rose and Leach, have seen the consequences of non-sterile environments, making them advocates for parlor regulations.

Artist input

Goldberg, of the New York Health Department, said no tattoo artists are involved in deciding what regulations are imposed on the state, a point Joyce is wary of.

Joyce said although attempts to make regulations failed several times, regulations will ultimately involve the health board by checking the sanitary conditions of each parlor on a regular basis. But without the input of tattoo artists, health officials could become invasive in the execution of the parlor.

"In some cities and some states, they use tattoo artists to help come up with regulations, but sometimes they do it on their own," he said, "and when they do that, they tend to go a bit overboard, because they aren't in our industry."

Brad O'Donnell, compliance officer of the drugs and medical devices group in the Texas Department of State Health Services, said the health department performs checks on tattoo parlors every three months.

"There is simple sterilization that we look for to make sure the tattoo is safe for its patrons," he said.

Under Texas State law, tattooists are required to:

-wash hands with a germicidal soap
-wear clean clothing and single use gloves
-use personal protective equipment
-use instruments that are either disposable or that are routinely sterilized
-follow proper handling and disposal of waste

Parlors need to report back to the health board with records of sterilization practices, who received body art and reports of any infection or adverse reaction.

The Texas Department of State Health Services used tattoo artists when crafting parameters for the state's parlors.

Rose thinks New York needs a system where the health board and tattoo artists work together to figure out a system that will satisfy both industries.

"I keep hearing regulations are going to happen, but I've been hearing it for 10 years," Rose said. "What they should do is get artists from reputable shops to come up with something that makes sense for the industry instead of people who do not know how to coordinate the attack. They need to spend time in a tattoo shop."

He said the misconception is that tattoo parlors are like emergency rooms with open wounds and blood everywhere. As a result, health officials tend to over-regulate parlors.

Sophomore art history major Ambrose Naumann has been tattooed three times by Rose at his Halo Tattoo shop on Marshall Street.

Naumann got his first tattoo on his 18th birthday. Since then, he has received 14 more from his feet to his shoulders.

He said the best place he has been to is Halo. Rose gave
Naumann five stars down his ribs, roses down and across his shoulder, and a lower-back tattoo.

Naumann said there are certain things he looks for in tattoo parlors. He makes sure the needle is open in front of him and he looks at the portfolios of the artists before getting a tattoo.

But in terms of regulation, he doesn't really let it faze him.

"A tattoo is a personal thing between the person and the artist. They are there to serve you as far as taking care of you, so it's the whole contract you need to take your own precautions."

In the future

If Leach had it her way, every tattooist would have to take a drug test and have to be vaccinated for hepatitis to ensure every artist is clean mentally and physically for their patrons. She also said each artist should be given a performance exam in front of a competent board of tattoo artists and health officials.

Leach said she would like to see a lot of standards required of nurses pass over to tattooing.

"This is a mix of the medical profession and artistry. There should be certain standards in both categories," Leach said.

But Joyce said regulations should focus on safety, not quality of
the work, because "there is no way to police that."

He said every parlor should use disposal tubes or take a sterilization class for safety, especially if it is a new parlor.

Scarab Body Art uses disposal tubes but also performs regular spore tests to ensure the autoclave sanitizer, which sterilizes the tattoo tools, is performing correctly. A spore test consists of using three strands of the same bacteria. Two strands are run through the autoclave; one is used as the control group.

After the bacteria are through the autoclave, they are sent to a laboratory. Two strands should be completely dead and one should not be. If more than one strand is still alive, the autoclave is not working.

"Some places, you can go in and ask about the spore test, and you'll get blank stares," Joyce said. "They have no idea what it is. But it's the only way to make sure that your autoclave is working."

To ensure quality work, Joyce also would like a mandatory two-year apprenticeship before tattooing anyone, based on a standard established in New Jersey.

Nathan Rudy, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Health Department, said New Jersey regulations are to make sure tattoo parlors are as safe as possible.

This includes tattooing regulations for minors, those under the influence of alcohol or narcotics and maintaining safety standards for artists and parlors, which are checked every three months by health officials.

Leach had her apprenticeship years ago, when tattoo-related health issues were "taboo."

"Less people were tattooing because it wasn't mainstream," she said. "Because of the media, tattooing is becoming more popular, so more people think they can do it, too."

But Leach worries the apprenticeship system also has its flaws. With tattoo shop owners taking on students just to generate more revenue, few solutions are created for a growing problem.

"With more people doing it, it's just more people being idiots."


sdmusat@syr.edu

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