Quaranta et al. BMC Public Health 2011, 11:774 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/11/774 29. Antoszewski B, Sitek A, Fijalkowska M, Kasielska A, Kruk-Jeromine J: Tattooing and body piercing- what motivates you to do it? Int J Soc Psychiatry 2010, 56:471-479. 30. Mayers LB, Judelson DA, Moriarty BW, Rundell KW: Prevalence of body art (body piercing and tattooing) in university undergraduates and incidence of medical complications. Mayo Clin Proc 2002, 77(Suppl 1):29-34. 31. Stieger S, Pietschnig J, Kastner CK, Voracek M, Swami V: Prevalence and acceptance of tattoos and piercings: a survey of young adults from the southern German-speaking area of Central Europe. Percept Mot Skills 2010, 110(Suppl 3):1065-1074. 32. Houghton SJ, Durkin K, Parry E, Turbett Y, Odgers P: Tattooing practices and beliefs among high school adolescents. J Adolesc Health 1996, 19:420-425. 33. Deschesnes M, Demers S, Fines P: Prevalence and characteristics of body piercing and tattooing among high school students. Can J Public Health 2006, 97:325-329. 34. Cegolon L, Miatto E, Bortolotto M, Benetton M, Mazzoleni F, Mastrangelo G, VAHP Working Group: Body piercing and tattoo: awareness of health related risks among 4,277 Italian secondary school adolescents. BMC Public Health 2010, 10(Suppl 1):73. 35. Mayers LB, Chiffriller SH: Body art (body piercing and tattooing) among undergraduate university students: “then and now”. J Adolesc Health 2008, 42:201-203. 36. Huxley C, Grogan S: Tattooing, piercing, healthy behaviors and health values. J Health Psychol 2005, 10:831-841. Pre-publication history The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/11/774/prepub doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-774 Cite this article as: Quaranta et al.: Body piercing and tattoos: a survey on young adults’ knowledge of the risks and practices in body art. BMC Public Health 2011 11:774. Page 8 of 8 Submit your next manuscript to BioMed Central and take full advantage of: • Convenient online submission • Thorough peer review • No space constraints or color ﬁgure charges • Immediate publication on acceptance • Inclusion in PubMed, CAS, Scopus and Google Scholar • Research which is freely available for redistribution Submit your manuscript at www.biomedcentral.com/submit