Can’t we really donate blood when we get a tattoo?
In: Biology
Everyone in this thread is just on the edge of correct and if you piece them all together, you basically get there, but nobody has given you the complete answer in one comment.
Tattoos are a vector for bloodborne infections, particularly Hepatitis. The risk in this is mitigated by a few factors. First, tattooists who are licensed by the state have presumably passed some form of training which includes safety standards. Second, tattoo parlors that are licensed have presumably passed some sort of inspections on a regular basis to ensure they are behaving safely.
Where this differs for blood donation is consistency. Most states regulate tattoo parlors on the state level, which enforces statewide standards and testing protocols. Some
Only regulate it on the county level and some do not regulate at all. The AABB (formerly American Association of Blood Banks but they recently rebranded) is one of the bodies that provides guidelines for blood donation and they recommend deferring anyone who gets a tattoo at a place other than a state regulated facility.
This allows for time for any illness to be caught by you or your doctor and for any illness load to be strong enough to be caught by their testing equipment. Not all tests are 100% guaranteed so deferrals from self-identified causes like verbalizing you got a tattoo help to reduce the possibility of false negatives.
Source: I’ve worked in blood banking for nearly 15 years. My home blood bank straddled the line of a state with state regs and one without so we had to ask anyone who said they got a tattoo which side of the line they got it on. One mile north or south made all the difference as to whether or not you got deferred.
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