I have 14 tats, and have been a tat artist myself - we here in the US do have to sterilize our equipment and only use single use needles and ink cups - i never heard the urban legend that you can't give blood if you are tatt'ed - in fact, I just read that you can give it after 6 months - so - getting tatt'ed is safe - the ink I use(d) is vegan - no heavy metals.