28 How To Look For Sterilization
Description
This article is from the Tattoo FAQ, by Stan Schwarz with numerous contributions by others.
28 How To Look For Sterilization
Check out the shop thoroughly. Don't be lulled into a false sense of
security by a clean look. If the needles are not disposed of after each
person, then it MUST be "autoclaved." Autoclaving is a process that
pressurizes the instruments and kills any virus or bacteria that might
transmit viruses or bacteria. My dentist has two autoclavers--one gas
and one steam--both pressurizing down to 250fsw. He also has spore
samples that he autoclaves and sends to a pathology lab to make sure the
machines are working.
Ask the artist how they clean their needles. If they don't say they
autoclave, you are taking your risks. If they say they do, ask to see
their machine. Note that in some states, autoclaving is required by law.
Other common-sense types of things include throwing out the ink after
each customer. Make sure the artists have small wells for each ink color
that they dispense from a larger container, and that these are thrown
out after work on you is done. Compare the conditions of the shop to
that of your dentist--does the artist wear gloves? Are the areas sprayed
clean?
According to the Navy Environmental Health Center Medical Corps in
Norfolk, Virginia, each year, a few cases of Hep-B are reported in
people who've gotten tattoos within the last two months, but they have
not been able to trace the disease back to its source, nor attribute it
directly to the tattoo.
Becky Fenton <AS.RAF@forsythe.stanford.edu> says: "I spoke with a
disease infection specialist at Kaiser [Permanente--US West Coast health
care system], and there have not been any incidents (as of 1990) of HIV
being spread *to* a recipient of a tattoo. If you think about it, the
tattooist is much more at risk, as s/he has to touch the customer's
blood.
David Zinner <dzinner@desire.wright.edu> notes that a blanket statement
regarding the use of autoclaves could be misleading. While an autoclave
will kill the HIV virus, it is not because of the efficacy of the
'clave, but because of the weakness of that particular virus. Far more
insidious is Hepatitis, which is more tenacious, and which a 'clave does
not always kill. He has gotten all of his info from CDC, by the way.
The irony, he says, is that now virtually anyone can afford a 'clave,
because many hospitals are selling them secondhand for a very good
price, and switching either to disposables, or purchasing dry-heat or
chemical sterilizers. Chemical is the best rated, and he says that his
friend's business has increased because of the precautions he takes.
In response to David's well-founded concern, Dr. Milton Diamond
<diamond@hawaii.edu> from the UH School of Medicine who has been
researching sexuality for 30 years, says: Hepatitis is easier to
transmit than HIV but all the bugs will be killed IF the autoclave is
run properly (i.e., set hot enough & long enough). Some instruments can
not, however, be autoclaved since they cant take the heat. These have to
be sterilized with viracides, "bug"acides and so forth. In any case,
here in the States, EVERYONE should be using disposable needles.
The chemical bath is only as effective as how fresh is it, how
concentrated, what chemicals, how "dirty" or contaminated the
instruments, how long in the bath, which particular bug is under attack,
etc. It is not the device, autoclave or chemical bath, that is as
important as the operator. There are many different bugs out there. HIV
may be one of the most deadly and Hep among the more easily transmitted
but many others have to be considered (including Chlamydia, the
infection rate of which is 20%!) and "he who aims at one, hits one." "Mo
betta aim fo dem all." If the artist or piercer is conscientious,
reliable and knowledgeable, either device could serve. Again my general
rule still stands: "EVERYONE should be using disposable needles."
Dr. Kai Kristensen <tattoodoc@jps.net> says: The needles that push the
ink into the skin (below the epidermis or outer covering and into the
mid-dermis or support structure under the epidermis) can transmit
disease UNLESS STERILE TO BEGIN WITH. When they have been used on you,
whatever bugs you carry in your blood can be transmitted to the next
person. The most commonly transmitted disease by needlestick is
Hepatitis B (and C). Clearly AIDS could be transmitted even though not
documented yet to my knowledge.
The skin should be cleaned with antibacterial soap and water and
scrubbing before the procedure to lessen the normal population of germs
on the hide. Alcohol doesn't do much but tends to degrease and cool, so
no harm but no substitute.
USE OF DISPOSABLE GLOVES: A conscientious, professional tattooist or
piercer will often go through A DOZEN DISPOSABLE GLOVES on one client.
Gloves SHOULD be changed every time they touch unsanitized items with
their gloves. If you see that the artist does not change gloves after
answering the phone, they are not being sanitary. Marginally acceptable
is if they pick up the phone (or other objects, such as pencil) with a
tissue. Optimally, they should use a new pair of gloves after each
potential contamination.
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