Bioplast
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Wednesday March 19th, 2008 @ 1:30 AM
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Warren-
In one of your comments on a recent modblog post:
“. . .or if they are the BioPlast that is immensely rampant within the piercing community because they don’t know any better.”
Explain? I have heard nothing but good things about Bioplast so I would love to hear what you have to say.
Pull up a spot on the rug as grandpa is gonna toke on his pipe by the fireplace in his rocker and tell a story….Ok so I ain’t nobodies Grandpa and I don’t like rocking chairs and I of course don’t smoke…But I do have a lil story to tell.
A few years ago shortly after I finished my first apprenticeship my tattoo artist and I were working towards opening up our own studio. A friend of ours had a giant two level store front and they were willing to co-own it with us and help us get it all started,etc. So in my attempt to get the piercing side sorted out, I contacted VARIOUS jewelry companies for catalogs,etc. A few companies catalogs had something called “BioPlast”…When discussing it with them they talked about how great it was, that its cheap, it can be cut to size,etc. When I asked them for any confirmation in Implant Grade Specifications or Bio-Compatibility Specifications, they were unable to provide me any. Because of this I simply decided I would not want to carry said material because if it can’t be confirmed as Implant Grade or Bio-Compatible by ISO or ASTM standards, then it should not be used for piercings.
Fast forward to today, I’m a bit older and a bit more wiser and have done more serious research into the subject. But first lets separate the misconceptions that various people have involving plastic/flexible/bendy based materials:
PTFE aka Polytetrafluoroethylene aka Teflon: This is often used in the Piercing industry and not going into the environmental damage PTFE does to the environment simply put, ptfe has a implant grade specification number: ASTM F754-00. This means if a Body Piercer is going to use PTFE, this is the specific type of PTFE they are to be using…And it should be used in a manner, that does not compromise the ASTM F754-00 standard that is given to it.
Tygon aka Silicone Tubing: Tygon is a specific trademark named product, much like Teflon is a trademarked name of PTFE. There’s various types of Silicone Tubing some might be bio-compatible while others won’t, especially in a fresh piercing. For Tygon personally I think the ideal tubing type to be used is: TYGON® S-50-HL Medical/Surgical Tubing as its fully characterized to ISO 10993 and FDA guidelines for biocompatibility. There are a couple other Tygon brands that meet the same ISO guidelines,etc, but again there’s also a few Tygon bands that DON’T meet said ISO guidelines.
This brings us to the glorious world of BioPlast.
BioPlast aka Udel Polysulfone: Their website states the following: “Bioplast” Corresponding to the current state of knowledge it represents a material, which is safe for the production of piercing jewellery as far as biocompatibility is concerned (Ref.: Technical Bulletin biocompatibility of Polysulfones for Medical Devices MD 50136 R12/99). Now in my research I have been unable to locate any confirmed documentation, just speculation. Also last to my recollection any discussion in the medical world on Bio-Compatibility,etc will not be touching on the subject of piercing jewelry and the safety measures surrounding it.
In my own independent research of Udel Polysulfones I have found there to be a large variety of usages for said material: plumbing, medical world,etc. However when it comes to the medical world we need to observe exactly how Udel Polysulfones are being used. The following website lists Udel Polysulfones being used for: surgical trays, nebulizers, humidifiers; note nothing is listed in regards to Udel Polysulfone being internally inserted into the body (ie: a body piercing). Also when researching through the ASTM and ISO standards for Implant or Bio-Compatible capabilities, you will not find Udel Polysulfones listed at all.
Yes Bioplast is resistant to heat and steam, thus meaning it can be sterilized. But just because something can be sterilized, does not always mean it should be inserted into the body in respect to a body piercing, especially in a fresh piercing. Also and finally another lil thing is that the majority of BioPlast sold is for the Externally Threaded body jewelry line, as most piercers tend to just want to cram the beads onto the BioPlast piece. This of course makes it an externally threaded piece of jewelry and because its crudely threaded on, makes the threading on the post a bit rough. They do make special tools to create the external threading and even internal, but I’ve yet to see or hear of a piercer using them. Also as for their Internal/Push-In style of jewelry, I know I personally often have people coming in looking for new beads as their beads simply fell out.
Now I’m not going to say it can’t be used, as I believe it can. But I personally believe the avenue in which it can be used for, is more for troubleshooting problematic piercings. So by saying that I personally believe it should be a last resort attempt to salvage a piercing and troubleshoot the situation to correct it, not to be used for initial fresh piercings.
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8 Responses to “Bioplast”
I agree completely with using Bio-Plast for problematic piercings. I got my Monroe pierced about a year ago, first with a typical, metal labret stud. I was having a problem with the metal disc getting caught on my gums when I smiled and when I was doing “other things.” So I ordered an internally threaded Bio-Plast labret stud and I have had no problems since then.
mary k on March 19th, 2008 at 12:16 pmInteresting story about bioplast…I tried it in my tongue piercing once…bear in mind this was a piercing I’d had for almost 4 years at the time, and I had used various types of metal in it (stainless steel, titanium etc) without any sort of problems. After about a week with the bioplast barbell my piercing was SO irritated. The tissue around the hole was discolored and it was seriously painful. Luckily, just taking it out and putting steel back in brought it back to normal in a couple days. All in all, bioplast gets a BIG thumbs down from me.
jack on March 19th, 2008 at 1:58 pmIf anyone wants to look it up in PubMed, there’s actually a fair number of papers about using polysulfone in implants. I don’t know if these are the same type(s) of polysulfone sold under the TRADE NAME Bioplast, however, because bioplast is apparently also a generic name for a synthetic actin polymer, which is definitely not what you would want to make jewellery out of, so it’s hard to filter through the search results.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?term=polysulfone%20implant
Xenobiologista on March 19th, 2008 at 10:06 pmI wish I had known this about 3 days ago… I’d heard so much about the wonders of BioPlast, and had it put into a VERY fresh piercing…I had a very bad reaction and don’t have the piercing anymore.
S on March 20th, 2008 at 10:45 pmXenobiologista: That’s very true I have found many papers and what not but as always that’s research papers. So as I stated its purely speculation until proper standardized testing is completed in such area’s as ASTM as well as ISO for any implant and/or bio-compatible capabilities.
Most papers discuss bio-compatibility and not implant capability, at least in the searches I’ve found…Although the papers I’ve read discuss that due to the bio-compatibility that research into implant capability should be done,etc…
But as my view is always this, I will continue to champion it…Is the material being put into the piercing implant grade material, or is it not? Implant Grade thus meeting the ASTM standards for medical implant devices/materials,etc.
Warren Hiller on March 22nd, 2008 at 12:47 amI have had a similar reaction to what Jack describes. I work midnight shift at a casino four days a week and I am required not to have any piercings at all. I decided to try to hide it by using the bioplast lebre. It worked for a couple of days, then it starts itching and hurts really bad. The piercing itself didn’t hurt that bad when I got it. Whe I put the surgical steel back in, it stings for a little bit, but in a few days it goes back to normal. I have tried looking for glass lebre rings since then, but there’s not too many out there. Anybody have a suggestion?
Kaechelle on September 20th, 2008 at 9:41 pmI struggled with severe hypertrophic scarring on my nostril piercing for almost 2 years before finally buying a bioplast nose screw as a last resort–it was that, or I’d finally have to accept that my nose would never heal. After about 2 months my bump was almost completely down with just a minor dot of scarring, and now, 6 months later, there isn’t a single trace of a scar left. After 2 problematic helix piercings and one of my two nipple piercings needing longer-than-normal healing time, I am very hesitant to get my navel pierced for fear an already very tricky piercing will be devestating. I was considering getting it done with a bioplast piece, but I wanted to look into it first. Because I have a good history with bioplast and a slightly poorer one with stainless, wouldn’t it be better than to skip the likely stainless steel nightmare and go straight for the material that worked best before?
Sekhmet on October 7th, 2008 at 10:54 amSekhmet: there would be a lot of questions to factor in on this subject matter.
1) what aftercare protocols you used.
2) What type of stainless steel you had inserted
3) How it was pierced(technique,tools/equipment,etc)
You could always try to research and make sure the jewelry being used is internally threaded ASTM compliant implant grade 316LVM stainless steel or ASTM compliant implant grade titanium.
Or you might even be a person that’s ok to have bioplast…but again there’s no implant grade standards for it so its very much a craps shoot and as a professional I do not feel comfortable suggesting clients use it on a fresh piercing…better to be safe than sorry I say.
Warren Hiller on October 7th, 2008 at 5:42 pmLeave a Comment