Body piercings and tattoos

Tattooing dyes, ink pots, stylets and piercing implements can transmit HCV-infected blood from one person to another if proper sterilization techniques are not followed. Tattoos or piercings

performed before the mid 1980s, "underground," or non-professionally are of particular concern since sterile techniques in such settings may have been or be insufficient to prevent disease. Despite these risks, it is rare for tattoos to be directly associated with HCV infection and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's position on this subject states that, "no data exist in the United States indicating that persons with exposures to tattooing alone are at increased risk for HCV infection.