PO Box 360
Trenton, NJ 08625-0360

For Release:
February 7, 2022

Judith M. Persichilli
Commissioner

For Further Information Contact:
Office of Communications
(609) 984-7160

Department of Health Proposes to Readopt N.J.A.C. 8:27, the Rules Governing Body Art and Ear-Piercing Establishments, with Amendments, Repeals, and New Rules

The Public Health and Food Protection Program, in the Consumer, Environmental, and Occupational Health Service of the Division of Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health of the Public Health Services Branch of the New Jersey Department of Health, in consultation with the Public Health Council, today proposes to readopt the existing rules governing body art and ear-piercing establishments at N.J.A.C. 8:27, with amendments, repeals, recodifications, and new rules.

Existing N.J.A.C. 8:27 provides sanitation and safety standards and procedures to which owners and operators of establishments that provide body art services (which include tattooing, body piercing, and the application of permanent cosmetics) must adhere.  The chapter also establishes sanitation and safety standards applicable to ear-piercing establishments, which use single-use stud-and-clasp ear-piercing systems to pierce ear lobes and the trailing edge of the ear.

In addition to proposing to readopt the chapter, the Department is proposing amendments, repeals, recodifications, and new rules, to reorganize and streamline the chapter, to reflect current best practices in safety and sanitation, and to respond to a petition for rulemaking requesting updates to the permanent cosmetics standards.

The proposal appears in the February 7, 2022, issue of the New Jersey Register.  The public will have until April 8, 2022, to comment on the proposal.

Persons wishing to comment on the proposal must submit written comments either (1) electronically by April 8, 2022, to http://www.nj.gov/health/legal/ecomments.shtml or (2) by regular mail postmarked on or before April 8, 2022, to Joy L. Lindo, Director, Office of Legal and Regulatory Compliance, New Jersey Department of Health, PO Box 360, Trenton, NJ 08625-0360.

LexisNexis provides free online access to the New Jersey Register at https://www.state.nj.us/oal/rules/accessp/.  An unofficial copy of the proposal is available on the Department’s website at https://nj.gov/health/legal/rules/notice-of-rule-proposals/index.shtml.

Last Reviewed: 2/7/2022