Don't know Jeri, but as recently as two weeks ago, the CBC Radio had an interview with a Canadian medical authority who made the announcement of the link between the rapid rise in Hep C and tattoo inks, in the Canadian Prison population. They said the ink source was directly responsible and I doubt Canadian Authorities would make the announcement without research to back the claim.I would assume that the inks contain small amounts of blood contamination picked up during the process.