Part 1 by Westley Wood, Pres.,
Unimax Supply Co Inc., 269 Canal St., New York, NY 10013

It is important that Professional Piercers know that
“Mill Certificates” are not valid for piercing jewelry:
it is fraud.

1)  Unimax defends the Rights of Piercers Not to deceive the public. So says Unimax, The leading Body Piercing Supply Expert for 30 Years.

2)  316L is by definition “Surgical” Stainless Steel (according to ASTM) 316L continues to be used SAFELY, for MORE THAN 30 YEARS by HUNDRED OF THOUSANDS of PIERCERS in HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF PIERCINGS.This proves safety.

3) No case can be shown that harm would have been averted
if F138 material had been used instead of factory grade 316L.

4) Support for Unimax Position can be seen in
 Recognized Standard Setting Organizations, such as
ASTM, ANSI, WTO, WHO all declare the Principle:
“safe and effective use over time is considered proof”.
This is an operational principle that is counted on world-wide.
According to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO)
Code of Good Practice (CGP), as well as
the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)
accepted by the U.S. Government, by ANSI and ASTM
they ALL endorse and publish openly

STANDARD-SETTING PRINCIPLES are as follows

(a) Standards must establish a level of protection
       appropriate for the application based on the risks in that application;
(b) do not result in arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination;
(c) do not constitute a disguised restriction of trade;
(d) do not discriminate between similar goods that provide similar benefits;
(e) that a standard be relevant to the risks associated with the application and
(f)  the factors that influenced the rule must be revealed to show: why this rule, why now?

5) Rules must not result in prohibition of what is proven safe and effective over time; (by safe usage over time).

6) “Qualities of materials are changed upon any work done to the original ingot.  The Mill creates the ingot and certifies upon testing that it meets a specified range of material qualities. When the ingot is altered The Mill Certificate becomes invalid. 

Ingots are sold to fabricators and made into different shapes, worked on more and finally a finished product is produced, usually through a few fabricators. It then must be tested if it is to claim it meets an ASTM standard.

Qualities of a material are not passed down as if by “inheritance” from the metal. When a material is fabricated into something, even polishing, even bending, even threading, the original material is changed and voids the Mill Certification.

Reason alone is enough for anyone to understand this.

“How can the Mill vouch that something meets the specifications when it has been altered: even by sterilizing the surfaces that are changed and void the Mill certification?  Mill Certificates do NOT certify “products-made-from” a Mill’s material. The Mill Certificate is made for the purchaser not the ultimate consumer.

Disreputable sales pitches intend to mislead consumers to draw the conclusion that if it is made “from” F138 (they don’t reveal the above Mill Certificate is voided) therefore it meets the original specifications.

 Knowing the truth we should not deceive customers. After all, we don’t know if even shards become embedded during threading or whether micro particles become embedded in polishing.

 Respectfully submitted,
Westley Wood, President,
Unimax Supply Co Inc (registered NYC in 1989) NY NY 10013
Read the complete argument at
https://wreyeting.org/materials/body_piercing_material.htm

"...the most significant expansion
of the FDA's authority…since…1938:"
Westley W Wood, Pres.
Unimax Supply Co Inc.
NY NY 10013 (est. 1989)
wes@unimaxsupply.com

03/25/2025 Westley W Wood, Pres.
Unimax Supply Co Inc.
NY NY 10013