Erie County has announced today that they’re human branding is no longer allowed to be conducted at tattoo parlours in the area. The process, that involves heating a piece of metal and making a third degree, permanent burn, has been banned by the Board of Health members.
“We will notify establishments that they cannot continue branding in Erie County,” said Andy Glass, director of the Erie County Department of Health. “We are going to contact the state medical licensing boards and get their read on how their regulations apply to branding and body modification.”
During a regularly bimonthly meeting, the board decided to ban branding temporarily on the basis that making deep burns in the skin is a surgical procedure only physicians should perform.
The main arguement is that the tattooing process involves inking dead skin that is already prone to infection but branding involves causing damage to live skin, causing a deeper wound.