Missouri Code of State Regulations
Title 20 - DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND INSURANCE
Division 2267 - Office of Tattooing, Body Piercing, and Branding
Chapter 1 - General Organization and Procedures
Section 20 CSR 2267-1.010 - Definitions

(1) "Antiseptic" is a chemical product or substance that kills or inhibits the growth of bacteria and organisms on skin, living tissue, or work areas.

(2) "Apprentice" is any person registered with the division to engage in learning the practice of tattooing, body piercing, or branding under the supervision of a Missouri licensed practitioner.

(3) "Approved" is acceptable to the Office of Tattooing, Body Piercing and Branding based on its determination of conformance to these rules and generally accepted standards of public health.

(4) "Autoclave" is an apparatus, device, or mechanism for sterilizing articles by using superheated steam under pressure.

(5) "Body pierce" and "body piercing" is the perforation of human tissue other than an ear for a nonmedical purpose.

(6) "Body piercer" is any individual who, for a fee, performs body-piercing procedures on a human being, excluding the ears, at the patron's request, including but not limited to:

(7) "Body piercing establishment" is the premises where a body piercer performs body piercing.

(8) "Brand" and "branding" is a permanent mark made on human tissue by burning with a hot iron or other instrument.

(9) "Brander" is any individual who, for a fee, performs branding on a patron at the patron's request.

(10) "Branding establishment" is the premises where a brander performs the process of branding.

(11) "Cleaning" is the removal of foreign material, soil, dirt, and any other type of debris from all equipment coming into contact with a patron and is normally accomplished with detergent, water, and mechanical action.

(12) "Controlled substance" is any substance defined in section 195.010, RSMo.

(13) "Division" is the Division of Professional Registration, state of Missouri.

(14) "Disinfectant" is a chemical that is capable of destroying disease-causing organisms on inanimate objects, with the exception of bacterial spores.

(15) "Hot water" is water at a temperature of one hundred eleven degrees Fahrenheit (111°F) or higher.

(16) "Instruments used for tattooing, body piercing, or branding" are hand pieces, needles, needle bars, and other instruments that may come in contact with a patron's body during tattooing, body piercing, and branding procedures.

(17) "Jewelry" is any personal ornament inserted into a newly pierced area, which must be made of surgical implant grade stainless steel, solid fourteen karat (14K) or eighteen karat (18K) white or yellow gold, sterling silver, niobium, titanium, or platinum. Jewelry shall be free of nicks, scratches, or irregular surfaces and properly sterilized prior to use in a piercing procedure. Ear studs are not considered jewelry for purposes of these regulations.

(18) "Minor" is a person under the age of eighteen (18).

(19) "Needle" is either of the following:

(20) "Needle bar" is the metal or plastic device used to attach the needle to a tattoo machine.

(21) "Office" is the Missouri Office of Tattooing, Body Piercing and Branding.

(22) "Owner"/"Operator" is the person responsible for the operation of a tattoo, body piercing, and/or branding establishment.

(23) "Patron" is a person receiving a tattoo, body pierce, or brand.

(24) "Permanent cosmetic tattooing" includes eyeliner, eyebrows, lip liner, full lip color, repigmentation, or camouflage.

(25) "Practitioner" is a tattooist, body piercer, and/or brander.

(26) "Premises" is an entire building, structure, or area where tattooing, body piercing, and/or branding are performed. Establishments located in buildings that are also used as residences must be separated from the living quarters by solid floor to ceiling partitions and shall have a separate entrance from the residence.

(27) "Sharps container" is a puncture-resistant leak-proof container that can be closed for the purpose of handling, storing, transporting, and disposing of sharps waste. The containers shall be clearly and distinctly labeled with the "biohazard" symbol.

(28) "Sharps waste" is any solid waste that consists of medical equipment or clinical laboratory articles and implements that may cause punctures or cuts, such as tattoo needles, body piercing needles, hypodermic needles, syringes with attached needles, and lancets, whether contaminated or disinfected.

(29) "Single-use" is a product or item that is disposed of after one use, such as a needle, cotton swab or ball, tissue or paper product, a paper or soft plastic cup, nonabsorbent gloves, and/or gauze and other sanitary coverings.

(30) "Sterilization" is the killing of all organisms and spores through use of an autoclave operated at a minimum of two hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit (250°F) and/or one hundred twenty-one degrees Celsius (121°C) at a pressure of at least fifteen (15) pounds per square inch for not less than thirty (30) minutes.

(31) "Tattoo" is-

(32) "Tattoo establishment" is the premises where a tattooist performs tattooing on patrons.

(33) "Tattoo machine" (operable tattoo machine) is an electrical instrument used in conjunction with a tube, needle, and needle bar to make indelible marks on the skin.

(34) "Tattooist" is any individual who, for a fee, tattoos a patron at the patron's request.

(35) "Tempered water" is water ranging in temperature of eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit (85°F) to less than one hundred ten degrees Fahrenheit (110°F).

(36) "Temporary establishment" is a single portable building structure, area, or location where tattooists, body piercers, and branders perform tattooing, body piercing, and/or branding for a maximum of fourteen (14) consecutive days per event.

(37) "Ultrasonic cleaning" is a cleaning device that operates at forty to sixty (40-60) hertz.

(38) "Universal precautions" is an approach to infection control as defined by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). According to the concept of universal precautions, all human blood and certain body fluids are treated as if known to be infectious for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), and other blood borne pathogens.