Marissa Torres was told that getting a tattoo would keep her from donating blood for 365 days.
Until Tuesday, blood donors who got a tattoo had to wait a year to donate.
But now, Torres, a 19-year-old UF recreation, parks and tourism freshman, doesn’t have to wait. She, and anyone else who was inked after Jan. 1, can donate blood to any LifeSouth Community Blood Center now.
LifeSouth announced it was lifting the one-year deferral for donors with tattoos because of increased regulations on Florida tattoo parlors.
Florida became the 30th state to pass a law tightening tattoo parlor restrictions. It went into effect Jan. 1, 2012.
LifeSouth Director of Recruitment and Retention Galen Unold said LifeSouth had to wait a year for tattoo parlors to comply with the law and for the law to meet the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s requirements. Torres said that she will donate blood now that the deferral has been lifted.
“We shouldn’t be punished for getting a tattoo,” she said. “It wouldn’t have any significant determination on how good the blood is.”
Contact Colleen Wright at cwright@alligator.org.
