Local tattoo shops are out to assure current and prospective clients that their establishments focus as much, if not more, of their energies on health and safety as they do on their product.

Wellington-Dufferin- Guelph Public Health Unit recently advised clients of one local shop, The Altered Native, to be tested for possible infections when the unit found it didn’t have up-to-date sterilization records from the business.

The situation has since been rectified, and the health unit’s manager of infectious diseases, Janice Walters, is on record as saying it is a “very conscientious shop.”

Since the incident, the Altered Native has increased its sterilization submissions to one a week, double the mandatory twice a month required by the health unit.

While one can’t expect tattooists to start wearing lab coats and reclassifying themselves as epidermal graphics technicians, one can be assured the local professionals are dedicated to a healthy, sterilized work environment.

Citrus City Tattoo Shop on Broadway exemplifies the contemporary tattoo operation.

As to be expected, tattoo art samples adorn the walls. But sharing the wall space are framed documents of certification in the study of blood-borne pathogens and avoidance of cross-contamination.

In the entrance to the establishment, there’s sign on the wall that has the “pass” stickers that prove Citrus City’s sterilization records are up to date.

While required by law to submit sterilization records twice a month, Citrus City usually submits such records three times a month and submits them to two different labs.

“It’s better to exercise too much caution,” figures shop owner Keith Winterbottom, “than not enough.”

Kyle Hagan of the Altered Native concurs. “In our business, the ratio is more like 70-30 cleaning to tattooing or piercing. Staying on top of cross-contamination is more important than the procedure.”

The disposable needles are delivered, tightly packaged and pre-sterilized, to today’s tattoo shops before they touch a client’s skin. They are used just once, placed in an airtight container and sent back to the supplier to be incinerated.

The tattooing machinery parts are automatically sterilized on site prior to every single use.

The inks, bottles, elastics and tattooing machine parts are securely bagged and/or wrapped until the client is there to see them opened up. The counter tops and storage drawers are pristine and the floors of the shop are so clean one could be tempted to eat off it.

Speaking of floors, the ones at Altered Native are treated with a medicalgrade sealer to ensure dust and pathogens don’t permeate the floors around the various work stations.

Besides, the Orangeville tattoo seeker has a choice of three different shops to go to: Citrus City, the Altered Native and the Riedel Needle on First Street. Sloppy adherence to health standards not only threatens clients and the tattooist, it is also bad for business.

“Since we’re competing, we’re all going to go over the top (cleanliness wise),” says Altered Native proprietor Shayne MacDonald. “I can honestly say that Orangeville is one of the safest places to have a tattoo done.”

In a separate room at the Altered Native, as well as in the work stations, an extra safety step has been added where work implements and client chairs are thoroughly sprayed with a substance that will kill any blood-borne pathogen within one to three minutes.

That’s not to say that the Orangeville tattooist are forsaking product. Mr. Winterbottom has been included in The Skull Book, a book which applauds the skull designs of 60 individuals from around the world.

He lists the things one needs to look for when he/she decides to get a tattoo; including ensuring the instruments are sterilized, the needles and elastics are new and in unopened packages, and the inks are the type that won’t cause negative physical reactions.

As well, he points out that clients should be wary of taking their business to someone just because the service is offered at a cheaper price. The tattooist might cut corners on safety to make up the difference.

“The health of your body is forever,” says Mr. Winterbottom. “Money comes and goes.

“I know at least five kids who are doing this out of their houses and they are wrecking each other’s skin.”

The professional’s attention to the art and technique of modern tattooing is gradually breaking down the stigma of the seedy old parlour, down by the docks, catering to drunken sailors on shore leave.

“If someone comes in looking for a tattoo and we smell alcohol, it’s a nogo,” says Josh Cornelius, a tattooist at Citrus City.

A 12-year veteran of the business, Mr. Winterbottom says his client list includes such professionals as nurses, police officers and firefighters. The age of his clients ranges from 16,

those under 18 require a parent’s consent), to a 79- year-old man who recently had an entire arm tattooed with Disney characters.

He still feels, however, that more can be done to both legitimize and protect the professional tattoo artist. “Regional health boards should sit down with tattoo shop owners and work out a code that doesn’t differ from region to region.”

He would also like to see a national association where members of the profession can pass along information and properly monitor the goings on, good and bad, in the business.