Body piercing health alert

Environmental health experts want tighter hygiene controls

Health experts say body piercers and tattooists need far stricter hygiene controls to prevent clients being infected with serious diseases.

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) is publishing a book outlining what it feels needs to be done to improve standards for such treatments.

It calls for a minimum age of consent for piercing - and says the law should be changed to prevent under 16s being pierced "below the neck".

The institute highlighted a case where one tattooist infected 30 people with hepatitis B over two months because of poor hygiene practices.

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The book, "Body Art", sets out good practice guidelines for piercers, tattooists and beauty therapists.

It also aims to provide health professionals and consumers with up-to-date information on treatments ranging from body piercing to acupuncture.

Mike Garton, health and safety specialist at the CIEH said: "We are calling for stricter controls for the sterilisation of piercing equipment, improved quality contents for tattooing dyes and the introduction of a minimum age of consent for piercing, with any below the neck illegal for under 16s and nationwide licensing laws."

Life-threatening infections

Piercing can cause a range of problems, including serious bleeding from the punctures and the creation of excess scar tissue.

But, if the piercer uses non-sterile equipment, people are also at risk of life-threatening infections such as hepatitis C, HIV or septicaemia.

At present any person outside London can set up in business as a body piercer without formal training.

London Boroughs can inspect body piercers, but outside the capital, practitioners simply have to register and abide by any local bylaws.

This allows a minority to take risks in the knowledge that they will escape inspection.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said ministers did want to introduce legislation to bring the rest of the country in line with London.

But she said the timing of any legislation depended on when parliamentary time could be set aside for the issue.

Concerns

The CIEH first raised concerns over piercing in 1999, when a survey of GPs in Bury and Rochdale found half of all local piercing centres left people with problems which needed medical attention.

Ninety-five per cent said they had seen patients with a complication resulting from a piercing.

Navels caused 40% of problems, 35% related to pierced ears, and complications from nose and nipple piercing were also reported.

In three quarters of cases the complications involved infections which had set in since the piercing.

Last year, the Royal College of Nursing also called for better regulation of the piercing industry.

Its annual conference heard "horror stories" including that of a 12-year-old who was hospitalised with severe blood poisoning after she concealed her infected naval-piercing from her parents.