According to a 2012 Harris Poll, one in five adult Americans has a tattoo, and the number is estimated to be higher for adults under 25. NBC 5 Investigates Consumer Unit uncovered some troubling details about how tattoo studios are regulated in Texas, and the lack of oversight has generated safety concerns.
NBC 5 Investigates Consumer Unit obtained nearly three years of inspection records for tattoo studios in the Dallas-Fort Worth area from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), which oversees tattooing.
The records show studios have not been inspected routinely or regularly. Rather, inspections have been complaint driven.
In 2012, records show the state inspected 40 of the 110 licensed shops in North Texas. Last year, there were fewer inspections, about 30, and the number of studios more than doubled to 263.
“Until recently, we had only one inspector in the Arlington office covering six programs: tattooing, body piercing, tanning, bedding, abusable volatile chemicals and hazardous products. Because of that, we were not doing routine inspections, focusing instead on complaint investigations,” said Chris Van Deusen, DSHS spokesman.
NBC 5’s investigation also found that required pre-licensing inspections of tattoo studios were not being done.
“At this time, the department does not do inspections prior to the issuance of a license. The department has not had the resources to complete pre-licensing,” said Van Deusen.
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Van Deusen also confirmed the state is not requiring individual tattoo artists to take a state-approved training course as mandated by health code. Nor is it requiring individual artists to register with the state, again, a provision of the law.
“While there is a law on the books requiring registration of tattoo artists and body piercers, the legislature never made an appropriation to support that requirement,” Van Deusen said.
The absence of oversight angers some tattoo studio owners, like Terry Mayo of Cat Tattoo in Addison. He is calling for more regulation.
“I feel like it betters my industry. It removes the people that don't belong. It removes the people that are going to hurt people,” said Mayo.
“Insult to Injury”
Dallas resident Jenny Wills counts herself among those hurt by a tattoo. She’s had several tattoos in the past. But the one she had done last month in her home taught her a valuable lesson.
She wanted a soft butterfly with a watercolor feel to memorialize her late husband. Instead, Wills ended up with a deep-red butterfly and a nasty infection.
"I was trying to do something to heal and it really just added insult to injury,” Wills said.
She ended up in the emergency room. She said she needed intravenous and oral antibiotics and a tetanus shot.
"You’re opening the skin. Not enough people think about tattooing as minor surgery, which is really what it is," said Josh Hall, owner of J. Hall and Company Gentleman Tattooers in Dallas.
Hall, a paramedic turned tattoo artist, opened his studio nearly two years ago. He said safety is a priority at his shop. But since he opened his doors he has yet to see a state inspector come into his shop to take a look.
“Some sort of presence would be nice. Knowing that people who are working in shops have had the proper training would be nice,” Hall said.
While Hall strongly advises against anyone getting a tattoo at someone’s home like Wills did, he said when done properly, tattoos are safe.
But if not done correctly, or if done in an unsanitary environment, they can potentially lead to diseases like hepatitis B and C, infection or allergic reaction.
In order to operate a studio, owners have to get a license from the state. That costs studio owners $900 every two years.
"I really don't understand where my money is going,” said Mayo. “It’s not being used to protect the citizens of Texas.”
The NBC 5 Investigates Consumer Unit found that’s correct.
The money collected doesn’t all go back to the program. Last year Texas tattoo studios paid $680,309 for licenses. DSHS said those fees go into the state’s general revenue fund. Then DSHS allocated $310,485 from its budget to run the program.
“The dollars didn’t flow for the specific purpose for which the dollars were in fact being collected,” said State Sen. Royce West, who sits on the legislative Health and Human Services Committee which monitors DSHS. “Should those fees go for what they are collected for? Sure they should. Sometimes that’s not the case.”
But West believes there should be a standard for tattoo studios.
“We should make certain that standard is adhered to, and it should be done thru an inspection process,”
State Sen. Charles Schwertner, who chairs the committee, would not answer NBC 5’s questions about lack of enforcement of state laws.
But DSHS’s Van Deusen said the department has implemented some recent changes.
“Following the last legislative session, we evaluated our regulatory programs and decided to reallocate resources to add inspectors for tattooing,” he said.
In September, DSHS hired two inspectors for its Arlington office who will focus solely on tattoo studios, allowing the department to do routine inspections.
“Our goal is to inspect tattoo studios annually, though we may not get there in this first year,” said Van Deusen.
