New California law gets the lead out of piercing jewelry

Hipsters beware: That naval piercing or nose ring may be hazardous to your health.

In rare cases, seizures, organ failure and even death can occur.

That’s the message from the California Department of Toxic Substance Control, which is enforcing a new state law that regulates lead in jewelry, especially piercing jewelry.

That law went into effect March 1.

“Body piercings may be particularly vulnerable to poisoning since lead can enter the bloodstream through the pierced areas,” Maureen Gorsen, director of California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control, said in a written statement.

To get the point across, officials from the department were in Berkeley on Thursday at Zebra Tattoo & Body Piercing shop to spread the word that jewelry must have less than 10 percent lead as of March 1 and less than 6 percent by Aug. 30, 2009.

If they violate the new law, they can face fines of up to $2,500 a day for each piece in their possession.

Kerrie Naslund, 34, a senior piercer at Zebra for 16 years, said she is confident her shop is lead-free because it gets most of its jewelry from American manufacturers who provide certificates showing the metals in piercing jewelry they buy.

State Inspects Bay Area Body Piercing Shops For Lead

State inspectors paid a visit to Bay Area body piercing and tattoo shops Thursday to enforce a new law that bans lead from all jewelry sold in California.

Mike Berriesford, supervising investigator with the Department of Toxic Substances Control, employed new x-ray equipment at Zebra on Berkeley’s Telegraph Avenue.

“We have a new law to enforce and we’re here to make sure that the standards are adhered to,” said Berriesford.

Not a problem for Kerri Naslund, who was performing a nose piercing. She has run a lead-free shop for 16 years, she said.

New Trend in Body Piercing All the Rage

There’s a popular new trend in body piercing. It’s called micro-dermal anchoring and it’s all the rage.

“A micro-dermal piercing, instead of going through two sides of a body part or tissue, it only goes through one part,” says Matthew Marter, a piercer at Club Tattoo in Tempe.

“The backing is underneath the skin, whereas a backing would be normally be on the other side of the ear or inside the nostril or inside of a lip.”

Harter says dermal anchoring has revolutionized the industry and over the past year has become incredibly popular.

“In the last two weeks I think I’ve done 50 of them or so.”

A single micro-dermal piercing will set you back about $50.

News Flesh: Piercing Age May Drop

The popularity of piercing has forced Auckland City leaders to rethink restrictions on the age at which teens can get their first studs and sleepers.

Under the city council’s current bylaw, youngsters need a parent’s consent for body piercing and tattooing until they turn 18 – with the exception that those aged 16 and 17 can have ears pierced without parental approval.

The proposed replacement bylaw puts piercing of the belly button and nose in the same age category as ear piercing.

“Basically the reason for the relaxation is a recognition of the need for a more realistic approach to the subject, since nose and navel piercing are now so common,” council spokesman John Evans said yesterday.

The practice of piercing has spread all over the human body, with studs and rings found in places as diverse as the lips, tongue and genitals.

Ear-lobe “stretching” has also gained some popularity, with people wearing metal “flesh tunnels” in holes up to 30mm wide.

A council commentary on the proposed bylaw says the age-of-consent change for navel and nose piercing is “consistent with the current school-leaving age of 16. Many schools will not allow pupils to have piercings other than pierced ears while they are at school”.

Paul Peachey, owner of ArtRageous Tattoo & Body Piercing studio in Dominion Rd, said it was hard to state an appropriate age for nose and ear piercing, because some cultural groups encouraged them for children.

“Any other body piercing – navel, tongue – you should be 18.”

New piercings were at risk of infection if not looked after properly, Mr Peachey said, and 16- and 17-year-olds were at greater risk than older people.

“They are not grown-up enough to look after themselves, let alone look after a piercing.”

Infection is not the only risk.

Otago University Dental School senior lecturer Dr Jonathan Leichter said jewellery in the tongue posed a high risk of fractured back teeth and people with pierced lips had a high prevalence of gum and bone damage around the adjacent teeth.

Regardless of these findings in formal studies, he has not called for prohibition of tongue and lip piercing, nor does he object to the proposed Auckland reduction of the age of consent for certain piercings.