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Fashion with no rules?
They’re in style, particularly among the young – and there’s something for all tastes and pockets. Decorating one’s body with tattoos is commonplace these days, and accessible to everyone. But is it safe?
Bruno Filipe Pires, Edition 688 (28 Jul 2011), 
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DECO, the Portuguese consumer protection association, is about to release the results of a study it carried out on tattooing in Portugal. Between the months of February and March, DECO investigators made roughly 50 visits to 29 tattoo and piercing parlours in and around the urban centres of Lisbon and Oporto.
Compared to their last study on the business in 2005, DECO concludes that there have been few improvements in services rendered. One wonders what they would have found if they’d visited tattoo/ piercing establishments in the Algarve? Who knows what condition they’re in?
According to DECO, none of the professionals contacted over the study wanted to know the medical history of their clients – and only 18 showed “good levels of care” when it came to healing, while eight tattooists actually dodged the question completely, saying the process was painless.
The association stresses that “people who suffer from skin disorders like psoriasis, or allergies to ink pigments, metal in needles or nickel in earrings, should never have anything to do with” piercings, while “tattoos are not advised for hemofiliacs and people suffering from epilepsy”.
“Information on associated dangers is essential for the safety of clients – but none of our investigators heard anything about them in any of the businesses visited.
The professionals involved did not show the least concern in knowing the health situations of their clients”, criticises DECO – adding that the risks involved can lead to skin infections and allergies, or far worse, contamination with the HIV/ AIDS virus or hepatitis B or C.
DECO stresses that “it is the good sense of professionals that determines what information they give their clients”, maintaining that “quality perameters need to be defined for everyone” in the field. In other words, tattooing and piercing need laws and proper checks to safeguard the rights of the consumer.
The alarming truth is that these businesses in Portugal seem to operate with no specific laws controlling them. Another (good) reason to have a fear of needles…
