In top photo, technician implants a metal post through a client's eyebrow. Above, posts and ball bearings have been inserted through the skin in a client's neck. Both procedures post serious health risks, say health officials who want it banned.

The Suffolk County Department of Health is considering placing a ban on certain forms of body art that health officials said are completed by using invasive surgical procedures that could endanger the public’s health.

"We would like to make sure tattoo parlors aren’t performing surgeries such as implanting objects under the skin, or piercing near major blood vessels under the collarbone or around the eyes," said Dr. David Graham, chief deputy health commissioner in explaining the type of procedures the health department is seeking to outlaw.

Suffolk County currently requires that operators of tattoo and piercing parlors have a valid certificate from an accredited course that instructs these technicians to avoid "surgery" by restricting procedures in certain anatomical areas of the body. They are also instructed on how to maintain proper sanitary conditions, site inspection and conform with regulations on age limitations. There are 45 registered tattoo parlors operating in Suffolk.

Concerns about the invasive procedures came to health officials’ attention from health-care providers at area hospitals who provided emergency treatment to those who suffered infections and other medical problems as a result of these increasingly popular procedures that include genital and surface piercing, ball bearing implants skin, burning, scarring and branding.

"When there are complications such as lesions, they (the clients) don’t go back to the tattoo or piercing parlor, they go to the hospital to get treated," said Dr. Graham, adding that the county would both respond in those instances as well as make on-site inspections to regularly enforce the new law, if passed.

But the proposal is being challenged by The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) which called the proposed measure unconstitutional.

"Although we agree that it’s important to reduce potential dangers in tattoo and piercing parlors, we feel such a ban will drive the parlors underground, beyond the regulations of the County, replacing licensed professionals with unlicensed amateurs causing unsanitary conditions," said Jared Feuer, Executive Director of the Suffolk County NYCLU.

Instead, the NYCLU said the best approach for Suffolk County is to strengthen its partnership with tattoo parlors, and take into account new variations on the millenia-old form of expression known as body art, said Feuer in a press release.

Michael Fenn, owner of two Suffolk tattoo parlors agrees surgical procedures shouldn’t be done in a tattoo studio.

"I have been piercing for 26 years and tattooing for 14," said Fenn. "I don’t know any studio owners who do these procedures. They are just trying to make it more difficult for us to do business."

A public hearing on the proposed ban is expected to come before the Suffolk County Legislature in the fall. At that the public will have an opportunity to provide input and comment.