WARREN Officials consider piercing ordinances

A committee will examine conflicting ordinances on body piercing Wednesday.
By AMANDA DAVIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Councilwoman Sherry Cox-Calloway, D-at-large, introduced legislation Wednesday to regulate body-piercing shops in the city.
The ordinance conflicts with one introduced last month by Alford Novak, D-2nd, to affirm the city health department's decision to prohibit such facilities from opening.
Cox-Calloway's health and welfare committee will meet at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday to continue discussion.
Novak said he is not against body piercing, but if council decides to regulate such shops, there needs to be serious discussion on measures to guard against health risks and to eliminate potential liability for the city.
Shop owner: Legislators heard a presentation during council's caucus from David Vindra, a nurse who owns a body-piercing shop in Cleveland.
He called body piercing an art form and said prohibiting the service could increase the community's risk, because body piercing is often done illegally in homes, where sanitation is not regulated.
Vindra, of Lakewood, said the national Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta has no documented cases of disease-passing through tattooing or body piercing.
Through his research of potential health risks, Vindra said, he found that about 90 percent of infections caused by tattooing and piercing are a result of inappropriate aftercare.
"This industry is not going away," he said, urging council to not make decisions based on personal opinions.
He suggested that council can eliminate risk by limiting the number of facilities that can open in each precinct.