Sex Toys Need to Be Safe

December 31st, 2009. By Hunter West

It’s a titillating subject to be sure and one that would be expected to serve as the butt of many a joke in the locker rooms of the nation. The fact remains, however that sex toys comprise a legitimate product component in the retail industry—and like any product that is used for the purposes to which they were designed, it needs to be safe. 

It may not be. 

Earlier this month in Canada (known affectionately as the Great White North where it gets so cold in the winter that residents alternate between outdoor sports and the indoor variety with their…well…never mind), a Liberal Member of Parliament issued a communiqué to the Canadian Health Minister with regard to sex toys manufactured with the dreaded bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates. 

The latter are chemicals used to make plastic sex toys soft and flexible. 

All playfulness aside, the safety concern for sex toys is not unlike previous health issues that have surfaced over the chemical’s use in things such as baby bottles, the lining of food cans and aluminum water bottles, and children’s toys that can and do wind up in a child’s mouth. 

According to Health Canada dozens of studies have confirmed that bisphenol A and phthalates can cause hormonal complications at a certain level of exposure. Given the intimacy by which such sex toys are used, it’s a compelling concern and one that should not be ignored. 

Canadian Press (CP) found Sandy Keeler, owner of Alluring Intimates in Edmonton. Keeler first heard about those concerns last year and immediately combed through her inventory. She found that about 15 percent of her inventoried products contained the chemicals—mostly in toys that were made out of a jelly-like substance. 

One can imagine what those products are used for and where they wind up. However, the health risk to users—and especially women—is huge. 

The risk to the population is also growing, given the expansion in the industry. Keeler told CP that “more and more people are getting into these toys,” she says. “You want to make sure it’s as healthy for you as it possibly can be.” 

But of course. 

Manufacturers are finding that as baby boomers age, sex becomes a bit tougher—at least, in terms of ‘getting there.’ Thus the adoption of various medications and sex aids in an effort to help the process along and ensure that the sexual component of a loving, caring relationship that fires on all cylinders in every other respect, is maintained and preserved. 

Thus the market is expanding and manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure that their products are safe. 

But that liability and responsibility needs to be extended to government, which carries the public good and the health of the general population on its shoulders. In Canada, federal regulations already prevent bisphenol A from being used in baby bottles—and phthalates can’t be used in toys that go into children’s mouths. 

So far there aren’t any rules preventing their use in sex toys. 

There should be. The sex toy industry is a legitimate consumer product that requires the same kind of oversight and regulation as other sectors, if the health of an individual is to be preserved and protected. 

Keeler says she shipped any product containing the vilified chemicals back to the manufacturer, and she now watches what comes in with anything but rose-colored glasses. She notes that about 95 percent of the toys she now receives affix labels on the packaging attesting to the fact that the items are made without phthalates. But consumers are still worried. 

Until government goes the distance and comes up with a way to regulate how sex toys are made—ensuring that they’re made with safety as Job One—consumers will continue to be cautious. 

Like any product marketed to consumers, a sex toy needs to be safe. And even more important than knowing where it’s been, is knowing what’s in it… 

Tags: BPA, Health Canada, Phthalates, Sex Toys

This was posted on Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 10:27 am and is filed under Personal Injury . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.