District of Columbia Code Division VIII. General Laws. § 47-2853.76. Definitions.

(1) “Board” means the Board of Barber and Cosmetology.

(2) “Body art” or “body art procedure” means the process of physically modifying the body for cosmetic or other non-medical purposes, including tattooing, body piercing, and fixing indelible marks or figures on the skin through scarification, branding, tongue bifurcation, and tissue removal.

(3) “Body artist” means an individual who is licensed under this chapter to perform body art procedures.

(4) “Body art establishment” means any structure or venue, whether temporary or permanent, where body art procedures are performed.

(5) “Body piercing” means the perforation of any human body part followed by the insertion of an object, such as jewelry, for cosmetic or other non-medical purposes by using any of the following instruments, methods, or processes: stud and clasp, captive ball, soft tissue, cartilage, surface, surface-to-surface, microdermal implantation or dermal anchoring, subdermal implantation, and transdermal implantation. The term “body piercing” does not include nail piercing.

(6) “Branding” means the process of applying extreme heat with a pen-like instrument to create an image or pattern.

(7) “Cleansing product” means any material used to apply cleansing agents to the skin, such as cotton balls, tissue or paper products, paper or plastic cups, towels, gauze, or sanitary coverings.

(8) “Operator” means a person who owns, controls, or operates a body art establishment, whether or not the person actually performs body art procedures.

(9) “Sanitization” means the reduction of the population of microorganisms to safe levels, as determined by the Department of Health, by a product registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) or by chemical germicides that are registered with the EPA as hospital disinfectants.

(10) “Scarification” means the placing of an indelible mark on the skin by the process of cutting or abrading the skin to bring about permanent scarring.

(11) “Sharps” means any object, sterile or contaminated, that may penetrate the skin or mucosa, including pre-sterilized single needles, scalpel blades, and razor blades.

(12) “Single-use” means products or items intended for one-time use that are disposed of after use on a client.

(13) “Sterilization” means the process of destruction of all forms of life by physical or chemical means.

(14) “Tattoo” means the placing of pigment into the skin dermis for cosmetic or other non-medical purposes, including the process of micro-pigmentation or cosmetic tattooing.

(15) “Tissue removal” means placing an indelible mark or figure on the skin through the removal of a portion of the dermis.

(16) “Tongue bifurcation” means the cutting of the tongue from tip to part of the way toward the base, forking at the end.