How To Dispose Of Tattoo Needles – Safety Facts In Details

Even though people are more aware and open-minded nowadays than before still there is a faint stigma regarding tattoos. And sometimes people get tattoo infections which give it bad press. What people don’t understand is tattoo infection can occur for many reasons. Using the same tattoo needle on multiple clients can cause tattoo infection. Getting cut or poked by used tattoo needles can also lead to infection. That is why it is crucial to use tattoo needles once and dispose of them properly. Now, you may wonder how to dispose of tattoo needles properly.

Disposing of tattoo needles is a bit different from getting rid of regular trash. Used tattoo needles are considered hazardous waste. And according to the law, you can’t just randomly throw them away. You have to follow proper methods to dispose of hazardous waste. I elaborate on how you can properly dispose of tattoo needles and more in this piece.

Key Takeaways

• You should use a sharps box to dispose of tattoo needles.
• If your tattoo or piercing parlor generates 50 pounds or less medical waste every month then you have to keep a written record of the weight every month.
• Make sure you choose a sharps box that is made of sturdy plastic and does not have any leakage.
• You should dispose of tattoo needles properly to avoid accidents, infection, and landfill pollution.
• Tattoo needles fall into hazardous medical waste.
• You may get hepatitis C, hepatitis B, HIV, etc. from using a used tattoo needle.
• Apart from tattoo needles, you should dispose of gloves, ink cups, bed covers, etc. after using them once.

Disposing of Tattoo Needles

The tattoo needle pokes deep into the skin to insert ink and make a tattoo. While doing so the needle comes in contact with blood and other bodily fluid. Which can make the needle infected. You have to keep in mind that tattoo needles and other tools that you use to tattoo do not disappear after use. You will need to dispose of it so that you or anybody else don’t use the needle by mistake. Using a tattoo needle more than once can lead to infection which nobody wants. So how do you dispose of tattoo needles?

You have to use a sharps box to dispose of tattoo needles. Sharps boxes or containers are specially designed boxes to dispose of anything sharp like needles, syringes, etc. These boxes are quite light even though they are made of sturdy plastic. The sturdy body of these boxes keeps sharp needles from poking out of the box. You can use a sharps box to put your used needles or broken needles that you want to dispose of. Using a sharps box can secure tattoo needles safely and prevent any accidents. Your colleagues or family members will also know what a sharps box is and will keep away from it. You can keep putting your tattoo needles and other sharp things like blades, razors, etc. into the sharps box until it’s ⅔ full. Then you can dispose of the sharps box by dropping it off at collection sites or your local council may collect the box from you.

You can dispose of any sort of tattoo needles using a sharps box. Such as:

Ohio Department of Health (ODH) primarily regulates tattoo & piercing shops. Because every tattoo & piercing shop creates medical waste on a daily basis. According to ODH if you generate 50 pounds or less of medical waste every month then apart from disposing of them using a sharps box, you will have to keep a written record. This written record must contain the weight of the medical waste you generate every month.

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How to Use Sharps Box Properly to Dispose of Tattoo Needles?

Just randomly putting Tattoo needles in the sharps box isn’t enough, there are a few things you should do to use the sharps box properly to dispose of tattoo needles.

I have listed them below:

1. Choosing The Right Box

When it comes to disposing of sharps, the quality of the box matters. Do not go for a cheap and low-quality sharps box to save a few bucks. Choose a sharps box that is built from sturdy plastic and does not have any leakage. Low-quality plastic or a sharps box that has leakage can cause accidents. That said you will find three types of sharp boxes, which are: purple boxes, orange boxes, and yellow boxes. To dispose of tattoo needles you have to choose an orange sharps box.

2. Placement of The Sharps Box

The placement of the box is crucial. You should place the sharps box in a place where you can easily reach it to put your used tattoo needles. But make sure the box stays out of reach of your clients, as they make try to open the box out of curiosity and cause an accident. If you are tattooing at home, then make sure the box is out of reach of any kids at your home.

3. Time to Dispose of the Sharps Box

You should know when to get rid of the sharps box. If you keep using it until it is full then there is a chance of spilling over which can cause an accident. So dispose of the sharps box when it is ⅔ full.

4. Put The Sharp End First

When you put tattoo needles or any syringe into the sharps box, make sure to put the sharp edge on the needle first. It reduces the chance of an accident if you spill over the box by mistake.

5. Disposing of The Sharps Box

Now that you have disposed of tattoo needles using the sharps box, what do you do with the sharps box? You can call your local council who will collect the box from you, or you can submit the sharps box at a collection site. There are many collection sites that will take sharps boxes such as pharmacies, hospitals, fire stations, police stations, many agencies, etc.

Why You Should Dispose of Used Tattoo Needles?

I have made a list of reasons why tattoo needles should be disposed of below:

1. To avoid accidents
   Keeping used needles in open spaces or throwing them away randomly can cause accidents. Needles tip can easily puncture the skin and cause bleeding.
2. Avoid infection
   Getting cut by a used tattoo needle can cause infection. Used tattoo needles may contain blood and other bodily fluid. So it can carry germs and bacteria from the person it was used on to the person who accidentally cuts himself with the needle.
3. Hygienic purpose
   For hygienic reasons, you should not use the same tattoo needle twice. Now keeping the needle in an open space can cause someone to use the needle by mistake. Which would compromise the hygiene rule of tattooing.

Why Dispose of Tattoo Needles in Certain Ways Is Crucial?

You may wonder why I need to use a certain type of sharps box to dispose of the tattoo needles and then follow the proper way to get rid of the sharps box. Why can’t I just throw the needles in the trash can like other stuff? In this portion, I will elaborate on why disposing of tattoo needles in a certain way is crucial.

1. Law

The Law regarding the disposal of tattoo needles is not the same everywhere. But 2005 hazardous waste regulations require you to use a sharps box or sharps bin to dispose of tattoo needles or tattoo piercing materials.

2. For Safety

For your safety and for the safety of people around you, you should use a sharps box to dispose of tattoo needles. Keeping used needles in open spaces can cause accidents. Accidentally getting cut or poked by used needles can cause infections and many complex health issues.

Wild animals like raccoons sometimes go over trash to look for food. If you dispose of your needles in a garbage bin using anything but a sharps box, then there is a high chance wild animals can be harmed by those needles.

3. Preventing Infection from Spreading

Improper way of disposal of tattoo needles can spread infection. If the tattoo needle reaches a water source it can contaminate the water source. And if you just bury the used needles you can cause pollution in landfills.

Are Tattoo Needles Medical Waste?

Can you consider tattoo needles as medical waste or not despite them not being used in health care facilities can be a great question? To understand the answer first, you have to understand what medical waste is.

According to WHO any wastage created by healthcare facilities is considered medical waste. So needles, syringes, bandages anything used by medical facilities are considered medical waste.

Medical waste can be of two types, which are:

• Biohazardous waste: Any wastage that contains bodily fluid or infectious material.
• Sharps waste: Anything sharp that can cut or puncture human skin can be considered sharps waste.

Tattoo needles after being used contain bodily fluid and blood. Artists do not use tattoo needles as a part of health care but the needle pokes into your skin and after being used it contains fluid that has the potential to spread infection. Using the needle twice or getting penetrated by the used tattoo needle can cause infection. That is why even though tattoo needles are not being used in healthcare facilities still they are considered to be a biohazardous waste.

Tattoo & piercing shops create biohazardous wastes on a daily basis, a few such wastes are:

What are Potential Infections You can Get from Undisposed Tattoo Needle?

If you use undisposed tattoo needles or accidentally get poked by them then you can catch various infections such as:

What Else You can Use Instead of Sharps Box to Dispose of Needles?

You may not have access to a sharps box, then how do you dispose of used tattoo needles? You can use any heavy-duty container or bottle that has a screw-on lid. The body of the container or bottle has to be sturdy enough so that needles can’t puncture or poke through it to cause an accident. Examples of such bottles are liquid fabric softener bottles, laundry detergent bottles, etc. After using make sure to label the container with either “SHARPS – DO NOT RECYCLE” or with a global biohazardous label.

Note: You should not use a glass container, plastic bottle, milk container, water bottle, soda can, or clear plastic container to dispose of tattoo needles. Because they are not sturdy enough to secure needles.

Apart from Tattoo Needles what Other Tattoo Waste do You Need to Dispose?

By the time you read this portion, you probably know well why the disposal of tattoo needles in such a precise way is crucial. But what other tattoo waste do you need to dispose of? I have prepared a list and given detailed information on why these wastes must be disposed of.

• Bed covers
  Tattoo beds should be covered with film or other material. After tattooing a client, you should change the bed covers so that cross-contamination does not happen. You should dispose of the used cover so that the infraction does not spread.
• Paper wipes
  The artist uses paper wipes during tattoo sessions. Paper wipes should be used once and then disposed of. Or else it can spread the infection to artists and to other clients.
• Face mask
  Tattoo artists wear a face mask during the procedure. This way artists protect themselves from any airborne particles present in the air. As per CDC, you should dispose of a face mask after one use.
• Ink cup
  Ink cups is where artist store the ink during the procedure. These are disposable cups that should be disposed of after one use.
• Gloves
  Artists wear gloves while tattooing. These gloves come in contact with the bodily fluid of the client so these gloves must be disposed of after one-time use.

FAQs

Can I use a regular plastic garbage bag to dispose of tattoo needles?

No, you have to use a sharps box to dispose of tattoo needles.

How to dispose of sharps box?

Your local council or waste disposal faculty will help you dispose of sharps boxes.

Apart from the sharps box what else can I use to dispose of tattoo needles?

You can use a sturdy bottle or container that does not have any leakage and has a screw-on lid.

Can I bury tattoo needles to dispose of them?

No, it can cause landfill pollution.

Final Thoughts

Disposing of hazardous waste is crucial when you run a tattoo parlor. Tattoo needles fall into this waste category so following the proper way to dispose of tattoo needles is crucial. You can easily dispose of tattoo needles by using a sharps box. Your local council or local disposal faculty can help you dispose of those sharps boxes. Not disposing of tattoo needles in a proper way can lead to infection spread. You or anybody around you can accidentally get poked by a not properly disposed of tattoo needle and can catch a nasty infection. Even if you just bury it on the ground it can lead to landfill pollution.

Apart from tattoo needles, you should also dispose of bed covers, cotton swabs, ink cups, leftover ointment, gloves, etc. As these materials can also spread infection just like used tattoo needles.

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