Are sex toys safe?

The turn off is understandable. Sex toys, while a lot of fun, are by no means necessary to having a good (or great) sex life. But if you like them, hopefully the turn off will pass, and maybe some information on what we know, and don’t know, about the safety of sex toys will help.

The short answer to your question is that there are a few easy ways to make many sex toys safe to use. In fact, as long as you are not allergic to latex, you can reduce the risk of reacting to any sex toy by simply putting a condom over it. If you are allergic to latex there are still plenty of options. Now the long answer…

The vast majority of sex toy manufacturers do not disclose what they put in their toys. This “mystery material” may pose health risks, but we have no way of knowing for sure.

Sex toys are not approved, tested, or regulated by the FDA. They are sold as novelty items, not medical devices.

We do know that many soft rubber toys are made using phthalates , which have been linked to several environmental and individual health issues, in a variety of other consumer products. The most common sex toys that are made with phthalates are called jelly rubber but many other kinds of soft rubber toys also contain phthalates.

We also know that manufacturers often give their toys an artificial scent (to mask the smell of phthalate off gassing), and these scents, along with the dyes they use, and the material itself, could be something people have allergic reactions to.

At the same time, because there have never been clinical studies done of sex toys that we can measure the validity of (by that I mean laboratory studies that have been published in peer-reviewed academic journals) there is really no way of knowing the risk of using these toys.

On the one hand, you might say that if there was a significant health risk to the general population it may have been revealed by now, given how many people use sex toys. On the other hand, if someone has an allergic reaction to a sex toy, or even if someone has a serious condition that may have been exacerbated by sex toy use, how often will they tell their doctor about their sex toys?

So where does that leave us? I’m always a bit suspicious of stores that use fear, and selective information, in order to push consumers to spend more at their stores. While higher quality, hypoallergenic, materials, like silicone, and elastomers, are absolutely the better choice, they are expensive and out of reach for many of us. If you aren’t allergic to latex, you can always put a condom on a toy. Most of the sex stores carry a range of products, of varying quality, but they always offer safety information, so customers can make up their own mind, and not be guided by fear based up selling.

As with any other safer sex issue the important thing is for each individual to understand and assess their own risk , which you can only do by getting as much information as you can, and making a thoughtful decision, preferably not in the heat of the moment. Whenever I deal with sex stores I’ll ask the people who work there what they know about what is in a given sex toy, and the safety concerns. If I feel like they are only giving me one side of the story, I’ll wait and ask at another store before purchasing.

Source: sexuality.about.com