According to Tattooartist.com (1), "ątattooing has become one of America's fastest growing categories of retail business. There are now an estimated 15,000 tattoo studios in operation as the once-taboo practice of body-marking continues to gain broader acceptance and popularity throughout mainstream society."
As tattooing has gained in popularity in the United States and elsewhere, concerns regarding the potential for the spread of such infectious diseases as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis have increased. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), for example, have repeatedly argued that tattooing, along with piercing and skin burning or branding, increases the risk for transmission of such diseases if proper safety precautions are not taken (Humanitarian Aid, 10). Tattoo artists have responded, pointing out that there is only small body of evidence suggesting that some equally small number of tattoo artists or parlors and recipients have experienced such problems (Tattooaritst.com, 1).
After a tattoo, an individual basically has an open sore that should be protected from coming into contact with diseases as well as viruses and bacteria than can cause disease (Humanitarian Aid, 1). The process by means of which a set of multiple sharp needles inject ink permanently into the epidermis and dermis is invasive (and, less significantly perhaps, somewhat painful); the process does introduce foreign materials into the human body through the organ of the skin.
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