Q: Can I get AIDS or other diseases from tattooing or piercing?

A: Both tattooing & piercing are a process that breaks the skin, and leaves a minor wound. In any such process there is the possibility of transferring disease. Here is a list of questions and items you should be looking for before getting a tattoo or piercing.

•Has the health board inspected this shop? Can I see the results?
A lot of shops will tell you they have been inspected and passed but if they won’t show you their official results, do NOT get tattooed or pierced unless you have seen the results.

•Are they using a steam autoclave(sterilizer) that has been spore tested bi-weekly to ensure it’s good working order and can I see the results?
Autoclaves are required to be spore tested bi-weekly by Toronto Public Health and the results are to be available to the public upon request for at least one year.  At Yonge St. Tattoos we spore test our autoclaves weekly.

•Are they using Nitrile gloves?
Latex gloves are no longer considered safe to use by the medical community.

•Are the desks & work surfaces stainless steel?
Desks that are made of porous materials such as wood or Formica are considered un-safe. They can not be properly cleaned.

•Is there hot and cold running water in the workstations?
Toronto Public Health requires that all tattoo & piercing stations have a sink with hot & cold running water for hand washing.

•Are all the non sterilized equipment bagged to ensure no cross contamination?
During the tattoo process equipment such as tattoo machines, clip cords, spray bottles that cannot be sterilized should be bagged to ensure they do not become contaminated.

•Is all furniture sprayed with an anti-microbial solution after each client?
All Furniture such as chairs, armrests & benches should be sprayed and wiped down after each client with an anti-microbial cleaner.