The Leeds, Grenville, and Lanark District Health Unit has identified LUX Tattoo and Piercing Brockville for improper cleaning and sanitization, and has issued an infection control notification for an infection prevention and control lapse.
The health unit says dating back to February, LUX has not been properly cleaning its reusable piercing tools.
"I have a piercing artist who has been educated and who has followed all the procedures that she has been trained to do," LUX owner Jason St-Louis says.
"How she was trained and what she went through may differ from what the health unit, in their bureaucracy, is looking at."
The health unit says it became aware of LUX offering piercing services to clients earlier this year.
After an inspection on June 8, over 100 letters of notice were sent to clients believed to be at risk of exposure to these tools.
"There is a risk of cross contamination from the reprocessing techniques that they used from batch to batch," said Dr. Linna Li, medical officer of health for the region.
She says the biggest concern is the spread of blood-borne infections from sharing uncleaned tools.
"The blood-borne infections that we're most concerned about are hepatitis B and hepatitis C. There is some concern for HIV transmission as well although that risk is very low," Dr. Li said.
The health unit adds that there are no concerns with the tattooing tools.
St-Louis defended his cleaning practices to CTV News.
"She has metal clamps because they can grip the skin properly. After she does the piercing those things have to be properly cleaned in an autoclave," he said.
"We're not reusing needles."
No infections have been identified by the health unit at this time.
St-Louis says the inspection has already had a major impact on his business, claiming a loss of $5,000 in two days due to cancelled appointments.
He is frustrated with what he believes is inconsistent reporting from the health unit.
"When I'm reading some of the report back to my piercing artist, she's already saying that's not true. This is not true. That's not true."
At this time, LUX has been instructed to only use single-use, disposable piercing tools.
The health unit says anyone who received a notice or believes they were a piercing client between February and June 8 should contact them.
Brockville piercing studio under scrutiny for cleaning techniques - CTV News Ottawa
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