This Jewelry is 16 Gauge 1 1/8 inch internally threaded Medical Gade Surgical steel.

(astm code 316lvm f-138)

Did you know you can have permant discoloring of the skin from the surgical steel most Tattoo Parlors use  for their piercings! Yea and it cost $500.00 per lazer session to remove the discoloration. Ask your dermitologist or plastic surgeon... Just a tidbit for ya   

  Always keep medical Grade Jewelry in permanently

The American Society for Testing and Materials Standard (now ASTM International) is a volunteer-based organization with 30,000 members in over 120 countries. The ASTM determines standards for a myriad of industries, and has become the most definitive authority in this field. The standards determined by the ASTM dictate what materials can or cannot be used for any given application. Our industry seems to refer to their standardization more often than any other similar organization (AISI, ISO, et al). Steel that is ASTM F-138 compliant is steel that has passed the criteria for implantation grade. The criteria for implant grade are based on the presence, or lack of presence of certain elements.  For our purposes, a mill cert shows the result of a test that determines the chemical makeup of a batch of steel. If a body jewelry supplier consistently uses steel from the same steel manufacturer, a mill cert test will yield near identical results every time. The tests are done by a third-party lab, and the information is presented in the certification report. If the chemical makeup of the steel exceeds the allowed elemental percentages, it no longer passes the ASTM F-138 standard, and is not implant grade. Failure to pass the ASTM F-138 indicates that the steel could pose a variety of problems if used for implantation purposes.