Tattooed Nevadans can now give blood within a year of getting inked

Nevadans will no longer have to wait one year after being tattooed to donate blood.

The decision, announced by Vitalant, formerly United Blood Services, in a notice to donors this week, came after Nevada adopted new regulations last year that more strictly controlled the health and safety of tattoo establishments, medical director Dr. Mary Townsend said.

“It was probably safe before, but now we can recognize it because it meets our very strict criteria,” Townsend said.

The new requirements added oversight and implemented infection-control measures statewide, she said.

Vitalant still considers 10 states and Washington, D.C., as “tattoo deferral states” where people who receive tattoos must wait a year before donating blood. At the one-year mark, antibodies for diseases like HIV and hepatitis should be unidentifiable in a person’s blood, a Vitalant spokesperson said.

As tattooing becomes increasingly popular, the change helps Vitalant’s blood centers conform with cultural shifts, Townsend said.

“When I was a kid, people who had tattoos were gang members and people who went into the military, and obviously things have changed,” she said. “Now, grandmas are getting them.”

In some states, including California, the number of blood donors climbed after the elimination of tattoo deferrals, Townsend said.

Vitalant has 127 locations nationwide, including six in Nevada, according to its website.

Contact Jessie Bekker at jbekker@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563. Follow @jessiebekks on Twitter.