2009 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 61 - Professional and Occupational Licenses.
Article 17B - Body Art Safe Practices Act
Section 61-17B-3 - Definitions.

61-17B-3. Definitions.

As used in the Body Art Safe Practices Act [61-17B-1 NMSA 1978]:

A.     "board" means the board of barbers and cosmetologists;

B.     "body art" means tattooing, body piercing or scarification but does not include practices that are considered medical procedures by the New Mexico medical board;

C.     "body art establishment" means a fixed or mobile place where body art is administered on the premises;

D.     "body artist" means a person who administers body piercing, tattooing or scarification; 

E.     "body piercing" means to cut, stab or penetrate the skin to create a permanent hole or opening;

F.     "equipment" means machinery used in connection with the operation of a body art establishment, including fixtures, containers, vessels, tools, devices, implements, furniture, display and storage areas, sinks and other apparatuses and appurtenances;

G.     "instruments used for body art" means hand pieces, needles, needle bars and other items that may come into contact with a person's body during the administration of body art;

H.     "operator" means the owner in charge of a body art establishment;

I.     "scarification" means cutting into the skin with a sharp instrument or branding the skin with a heated instrument to produce a permanent mark or design on the skin;

J.     "sharps" means any sterilized object that is used for the purpose of penetrating the skin or mucosa, including needles, scalpel blades and razor blades;

K.     "single use" means products or items that are intended for one-time, one-person use and are disposed of after use on each client, including cotton swabs or balls, tissues or paper products, paper or plastic cups, gauze and sanitary coverings, razors, piercing needles, scalpel blades, stencils, ink cups and protective gloves;

L.     "sterilization" means destruction of all forms of microbiotic life, including spores; and

M.     "tattooing" means the practice of depositing pigment, which is either permanent, semipermanent or temporary, into the epidermis using needles by someone other than a state-licensed physician or a person under the supervision of a state-licensed physician and includes permanent cosmetics, dermography, micropigmentation, permanent color technology and micropigment implantation.