BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Senator Ed Hernandez, O.D., Chair
BILL NO: AB 1168
AUTHOR: Pan
AMENDED: June 10, 2013
HEARING DATE: June 19, 2013
CONSULTANT: Robinson-Taylor
SUBJECT : Safe body art.
SUMMARY : Makes a number of technical and clarifying changes to
existing law governing practitioners engaged in body art in
California including the business or performance of tattooing,
body piercing, branding and the application of permanent
cosmetics. Makes technical changes to the requirements for the
performance of ear piercing with a mechanical device.
Existing law:
1.Establishes minimum statewide standards for the regulation of
body art practitioners engaged in the business of tattooing,
branding, body piercing and the application of permanent
cosmetics.
2.Requires, effective July 1, 2012, a local enforcement agency
(LEAs) to register practitioners and issue permits to body art
facilities annually following a site visit and review of
specified documentation, such as infection control plans.
3.Establishes a framework under which body art practitioners
qualify to provide services, including, among other things,
requirements for training, health and safety practices,
documentation handling and storage, and inspection compliance.
4.Imposes specified prohibitions on body art practices,
including limitations on customers with regard to age and
medical condition, and requires informed consent to be given
and a signed consent form to be retained prior to the
provision of body art services.
This bill:
General Provisions
1.Includes in the definition of a body art facility a specified
building, section of a building, or vehicle in which a
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practitioner demonstrates body art for the purpose of
instruction.
2.Deletes definition of "sharps waste" in current law for
purposes of the Safe Body Art Act, and instead, defines
"sharps waste" to mean any device or instrument having acute
rigid corners, edges or protuberances capable of cutting or
piercing the skin, that has been used in the performance of
body art, and has not been disinfected or sterilized following
use, including but not limited to all of the following:
a. Tattooing needles and needle bars;
b. Disposable piercing needles; and,
c. Disposable razors.
3.Defines "sharps waste container" to mean a rigid, puncture
resistant, commercial container that, when sealed, is leak
resistant and cannot be reopened without great difficulty.
Requires such containers to be designed and constructed
specifically for the proper containment of sharps waste.
4.Defines "warm water" to mean water that is supplied through a
mixing valve or combination faucet at a temperature of at
least 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Privacy
5.Requires personal medical information gathered from a
customer, prior to the performance of body art, to comply with
existing federal privacy law established under the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
6.Deletes the requirement that body art facilities shred any
confidential medical information after two years from
performing the body art procedure on the client.
Practitioner Requirements
7.Prohibits a body art practitioner from performing body art at
any location other than a permanent or temporary body art
facility that has been approved and inspected by the LEA.
8.Deletes the requirement for practitioners who are initially
registering with the LEA to provide evidence of at least six
months of related experience.
9.Requires a practitioner, at the completion of performing a
body art procedure to use a sterile dressing when covering a
procedure site.
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10.Adds a single-use marking pen to the items permitted to be
used when marking the body piercing site.
Permanent Body Art Facilities
11.Prohibits a body art facility from allowing a practitioner,
who does not possess a valid practitioner registration, from
performing body art procedures at the facility. Authorizes an
LEA to suspend or revoke the permit of a body art facility, if
the facility allows an unregistered practitioner who does not
possess a valid practitioner registration to perform body art.
12.Requires an owner of a body art facility to notify the LEA in
writing within 30 days of registration, termination, or new
hire of a body art practitioner at the body art facility.
13.Clarifies floor, wall, ceiling, counter and sink surface
requirements for permanent body art facilities and requires
these facilities to have adequate restroom facilities.
14.Authorizes the LEA to determine the amount of separation
between the procedures area of a permanent body art facility
and the areas of the facility not related to body art.
15.Requires each procedure area to have a sharps waste container
that meets specified requirements.
16.Requires the removal and disposal of all sharps waste to be
done by a licensed waste hauler and disposed of at a licensed
treatment facility or removed and transported through a
mail-back system authorized by DPH.
17.Requires documentation of proper disposal of sharps waste to
be maintained for three years and to be available for
inspection upon request of the enforcement officer.
18.Specifies that only service animals, as defined by the
federal Americans for Disabilities Act, are allowed in certain
areas of a body art facility.
19.Requires the results of the biological indicator monitoring
test used during the sterilization process to be recorded in a
log that is kept on site for three years after the date of the
results. Requires a written log of each sterilization cycle
to be maintained for three years and made available for
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inspection upon request of the enforcement officer.
20.Requires a body art facility that does not have access to a
decontamination and sterilization area, as specified, or
sterilization equipment to maintain written proof on company
or laboratory letterhead showing that the pre-sterilized
instruments have undergone a sterilization process. Requires
the written proof to clearly identify the lot or batch number
of the sterilizer run.
Mobile Body Art Facilities
21.Deletes existing permit requirements for a practitioner that
performs body art in a vehicle and, instead, establishes new
requirements governing all aspects of a mobile body art
facility including vehicle specifications and requirements
regarding counters, sinks, service trays, soap and paper towel
dispensers, potable water and waste water.
22.Requires, in mobile body art facilities, that all body art
procedures be completed inside with doors and windows closed
during the procedure unless the doors and windows are covered
by a 16 mesh per square inch screen or better.
23.Requires a mobile art facility to use only purchased
disposable, single-use, pre-sterilized instruments. Requires
a mobile art facility to be operated within 200 feet of an
accessible restroom. Requires a mobile art facility to be
used exclusively for performing body art and prohibits a
mobile art facility from being used as a living space or
residence.
Temporary Body Art Facilities
24.Adds, for temporary body art facilities, requirements
regarding floor space, hand washing, trash pick-up, waste
water removal, potable water storage capacity, and adequate
back-up supplies. Prohibits food, drink or tobacco products
in temporary body art facilities
25.Requires the sponsor of a temporary body art event to obtain
all necessary permits to conduct business in the jurisdiction
where the event will be held. Requires the sponsor to submit
a complete temporary facility permit application to the LEA a
minimum of 30 days prior to the date of the scheduled event.
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26.Prohibits the sponsor of a temporary body art event from
allowing a body art practitioner to perform body art
procedures at the event unless the person has a valid
California Body Art Practitioner Registration.
27.Deletes the requirement for temporary body art facilities to
have eye wash stations.
Mechanical Stud and Clasp Ear Piercing
28.Specifies that the piercing of the ear with a mechanical stud
and clasp device does not constitute body art or body
piercing. Clarifies that ear piercing equipment with a
disposable, single-use, pre-sterilized stud and clasp, made
with specified materials, may be used only for piercing the
ear pursuant to existing law.
Enforcement
29.Permits an enforcement officer to impound instruments that
are found during an inspection that have been used in an
unapproved manner, or used in an unapproved location.
30.Makes other technical and clarifying changes.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill has been deemed non-fiscal.
PRIOR VOTES :
Assembly Health: 16- 0
Assembly Floor: 74- 0
COMMENTS :
1.Author's statement. Since implementation of AB 300 (Ma),
Chapter 638, Statutes of 2011, which created the Safe Body Art
Act, both the industry and regulators have identified a number
of small but important adjustments that need to be made to the
law to ensure effective and efficient implementation. AB 1168
represents consensus language drafted by a stakeholder group
assembled by the California Conference of Directors of
Environmental Health (CCDEH) which includes environmental
health regulators, tattooists, body piercers, permanent
cosmetic practitioners, the mechanical ear piercing industry
and other health trainers and safe body art advocates.
2.Background. According to the Centers for Disease Control and
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Prevention, body art is becoming increasingly common, with 21
percent of adults in the United States reporting having at
least one tattoo. Unsafe tattooing and piercing practices can
lead to serious health impacts such as hepatitis or HIV
infection, as well a range of other bloodborne infections.
Complications are fairly uncommon, given how common tattoos
and piercings are, but because body art breaches the skin,
infections are a risk, nevertheless. Tattoo inks are
classified as cosmetics and, with limited exceptions, are not
regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Long-term effects of these inks are unknown. Specific risks
of tattoos include bloodborne diseases, skin disorders, skin
infections, allergic reactions, and complications during
diagnostic imaging such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
Piercing also carries risks, including infection, allergies,
nerve damage, and excessive bleeding.
3.Prior legislation.
a. AB 300 (Ma), Chapter 638, Statutes of 2011 regulates
the performance of body art in California.
b. AB 223 (Ma) of 2010, and AB 517 (Ma) of 2009, both
of which were substantively identical to AB 300, were
vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger who stated in his veto
messages that he did not see a compelling need for
additional legislation, given that local jurisdictions
have the option to establish these requirements in their
own county and many have chosen to do so.
4.Support. The sponsor of this legislation, the California
Association of Environmental Health Administrators (CAEHA),
which represents all 62 local environmental health departments
and the body art safety inspectors in the state, writes in
support that this bill is essentially a "clean-up" of the Safe
Body Art Act which was signed into law in 2011.
Studex Corporation, a California manufacturer of ear piercing
instruments, writes in support that this bill appropriately
reinforces and leaves unchanged one of the basic premises of
the Safe Body Art Act which is that modern retail ear
piercing. While widespread and popular, Studex maintains ear
piercing is a very different business than the more involved
and riskier business of tattooing and manual body piercing.
Studex asserts that this bill retains consistent and
appropriate standards for modern ear piercing which is
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important for protecting consumers throughout the state and
provides uniformity of regulatory oversight of the ear
piercing industry.
5.Policy Concern. The FDA has not approved any tattoo pigments
for injection into the skin, including those used for
ultraviolet and glow-in-the dark tattoos. According to the
FDA, many pigments used in tattoo inks are industrial-grade
colors suitable for printers' ink or automobile paint. The
FDA has received reports of bad reactions to tattoo inks right
after tattooing or even years later. Some people report itchy
or inflamed skin around their tattoo, skin infections, or
reactions to sun exposure which has prompted the FDA to study
tattoo ink safety. The FDA is currently researching the
following: the chemical composition of the inks and how they
break down (metabolize) in the body; the short-term and
long-term safety of pigments used in tattoo inks; and, how the
body responds to the interaction of light with the inks.
Absent FDA findings and national standards regarding tattoo
inks, the author may wish to include a provision that requires
the public to be informed, as a part of their informed
consent, that no tattoo inks, dyes or pigments have been
approved by the FDA and that the health consequences of using
these products are unknown.
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION :
Support: California Association of Environmental Health
Administrators (sponsor)
Studex Corporation
Oppose: None on file.
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