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Bringing sex toys out of the dark: exploring unmitigated risks

A majority of American adults report having used sex toys, which, by design, interact with intimate and permeable body parts yet have not been subject to sufficient risk assessment or management. Physical and chemical data are presented examining potential risks associated with four types of current...

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Autores principales: Sipe, Joana Marie, Amos, Jaleesia D., Swarthout, Robert F., Turner, Amalia, Wiesner, Mark R., Hendren, Christine Ogilvie
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer International Publishing 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10034881/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36974201
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s43591-023-00054-6
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author Sipe, Joana Marie
Amos, Jaleesia D.
Swarthout, Robert F.
Turner, Amalia
Wiesner, Mark R.
Hendren, Christine Ogilvie
author_facet Sipe, Joana Marie
Amos, Jaleesia D.
Swarthout, Robert F.
Turner, Amalia
Wiesner, Mark R.
Hendren, Christine Ogilvie
author_sort Sipe, Joana Marie
collection PubMed
description A majority of American adults report having used sex toys, which, by design, interact with intimate and permeable body parts yet have not been subject to sufficient risk assessment or management. Physical and chemical data are presented examining potential risks associated with four types of currently available sex toys: anal toy, beads, dual vibrator, and external vibrator. A standardized abrasion machine made real-time breakdown of products into microplastics and nanoplastics. The microplastics from the sex toys were then solvent extracted and analyzed using GC–MS. Rates of microplastics and nanoplastics released during abrasion testing from most microplastic release to least was the anal toy, beads, dual vibrator, external vibrator. Both micro- and nanoplastics particles were generated following the abrasion test, with the 50 percentile diameters (D50) ranging from the anal beads at 658.5 μm, dual vibrator at 887.83 μm, anal toy at 950 μm, and external vibrator at 1673.33 μm. The material matrix of each product was analyzed using ATR-FTIR, with results identifying the anal toy as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the anal beads as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), the external vibrator as a silicone blend (polydimethylsiloxane [PDMS]), and the dual vibrator as a rubber mixture (polyisoprene). After extraction, phthalates known to be endocrine disruptors were present in all tested sex toys at levels exceeding hazard warnings. Analogous findings have been reported for similar materials that, when incorporated into other product categories, are subject to regulatory scrutiny in both the US and EU. This data set is not intended to be representative of sex toys as an entire class of products, nor are the abrasion experiments claiming to simulate exact use conditions. However, these exploratory data frame potential concerns, highlighting research questions and the need for prompt prioritization of protective action. Therefore, future studies and multi-stakeholder action are needed to understand and reduce risk for this class of products. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s43591-023-00054-6.
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spelling pubmed-100348812023-03-23 Bringing sex toys out of the dark: exploring unmitigated risks Sipe, Joana Marie Amos, Jaleesia D. Swarthout, Robert F. Turner, Amalia Wiesner, Mark R. Hendren, Christine Ogilvie Microplast nanoplast Research A majority of American adults report having used sex toys, which, by design, interact with intimate and permeable body parts yet have not been subject to sufficient risk assessment or management. Physical and chemical data are presented examining potential risks associated with four types of currently available sex toys: anal toy, beads, dual vibrator, and external vibrator. A standardized abrasion machine made real-time breakdown of products into microplastics and nanoplastics. The microplastics from the sex toys were then solvent extracted and analyzed using GC–MS. Rates of microplastics and nanoplastics released during abrasion testing from most microplastic release to least was the anal toy, beads, dual vibrator, external vibrator. Both micro- and nanoplastics particles were generated following the abrasion test, with the 50 percentile diameters (D50) ranging from the anal beads at 658.5 μm, dual vibrator at 887.83 μm, anal toy at 950 μm, and external vibrator at 1673.33 μm. The material matrix of each product was analyzed using ATR-FTIR, with results identifying the anal toy as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the anal beads as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), the external vibrator as a silicone blend (polydimethylsiloxane [PDMS]), and the dual vibrator as a rubber mixture (polyisoprene). After extraction, phthalates known to be endocrine disruptors were present in all tested sex toys at levels exceeding hazard warnings. Analogous findings have been reported for similar materials that, when incorporated into other product categories, are subject to regulatory scrutiny in both the US and EU. This data set is not intended to be representative of sex toys as an entire class of products, nor are the abrasion experiments claiming to simulate exact use conditions. However, these exploratory data frame potential concerns, highlighting research questions and the need for prompt prioritization of protective action. Therefore, future studies and multi-stakeholder action are needed to understand and reduce risk for this class of products. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s43591-023-00054-6. Springer International Publishing 2023-03-23 2023 /pmc/articles/PMC10034881/ /pubmed/36974201 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s43591-023-00054-6 Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Research
Sipe, Joana Marie
Amos, Jaleesia D.
Swarthout, Robert F.
Turner, Amalia
Wiesner, Mark R.
Hendren, Christine Ogilvie
Bringing sex toys out of the dark: exploring unmitigated risks
title Bringing sex toys out of the dark: exploring unmitigated risks
title_full Bringing sex toys out of the dark: exploring unmitigated risks
title_fullStr Bringing sex toys out of the dark: exploring unmitigated risks
title_full_unstemmed Bringing sex toys out of the dark: exploring unmitigated risks
title_short Bringing sex toys out of the dark: exploring unmitigated risks
title_sort bringing sex toys out of the dark: exploring unmitigated risks
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10034881/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36974201
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s43591-023-00054-6
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