What’s something that some bikers, sailors, survivors and sorority girls have in common? The answer is skin-deep: permanent body art.

This cultural norm is also sometimes considered a taboo. These days, anyone could get anything inked or pierced in just about any spot on the human body. Although the risk of acquiring some major infectious diseases via parlor needles has declined since the 1990s, according the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, concerns from both the businesses and consumers still stand.

Last March, Blue Mountain Heart-to-Heart held an open meeting to the community to discuss health risks and laws with the public and tattoo professionals. Currently, the state of Washington does not require anything more than a business license in order to do needlework on paying customers. Business-owners had voiced the same uneasiness as the rest of the community.

“The lack of government oversight on the industry is a black mark for Washington,” said Rebeckah Turner in an interview with the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. Turner is the shop manager of Tatmandu Tattoo & Piercing.

“The risk of disease transmission from a properly run tattoo business is small but not nil so it pays for those considering body art to thoroughly investigate the cleanliness, hygiene, sterilization, and sanitation practices of the prospective artist’s business. Other States have taken a more regulatory approach,” said Harvey Crowder, the public Health Administrator of the Walla Walla County Health Department.

Unlike other states, these loose restrictions leave it up to the consumer to be the ultimate judge of whether or not getting work done would be safe.

“That freaks me out a little. There should definitely should be more restrictions,” said first-year Nina Trotto after hearing about Washington state regulations on tattoo and piercing shops. Trotto, who has gotten inked in her hometown of Madison, Wisc., said that her home-state’s rules are similar.

Washington House Bill 1383 has pushed for more amendments to increase health supervisions over body art shops.

“The department of health shall conduct a study of the body modification profession and make recommendations to the legislature as to whether the professions should be regulated, and to what extent, for the purpose of protecting the public interest… The department shall submit a report detailing its finding and recommendations under this section to the appropriate legislative committees,” stated the engrossed version of the bill. Since these changes have not passed, they cannot require oversight for body art businesses.

“Would I like to see someone from the health department come in here and look around? Sure. But I haven’t seen it happen yet,” said Wes Ohler, owner of Immortal Ink.

Basic precautions have been part of the criteria for most Whitman students seeking to get pierced or tattooed in the state.

“It was kind of an ‘on-a-whim’ thing to get my tragus pierced. I had been thinking about it, but then I found out it was $35 cheaper than the place I went to at home to get it done,” said first-year Claire Johnson, who mentioned that her experience getting her inner earlobe pierced in one Walla Walla parlor had been less than standard.

“It just seemed like a lot of people were going in there and they were getting pierced left and right, not caring too much. Another thing I noticed is that they asked me if I was at least 18, I said yes and he didn’t check. At home, they would always check just to make sure,” said Johnson, who is originally from Tacoma, Wash., where she has gotten eight of her nine piercings done. However, she was provided with after-care information that explained proper cleaning and maintenance tips for the newly pierced site.

“That was good to know that they actually care. They did say that if anything happens to come back and they’d look at it for me,” said Johnson.

First-year and Walla Walla native Anna Forge got her first tattoo last fall from a popular shop in town.

“I was surprised at how small the place was, but it smelled like a hospital, my friends had gotten tattoos done there and I saw the cleaning machines so I felt fine with it,” said Forge.