If this measure passes, all those crappy unsafe-material sex toys I’ve been telling you about could fall under a chemical ban in San Francisco. The supervisors are set to approve Tuesday an ordinance intended to protect children from harmful plastics — including those with the chemical softener phthalates, a common chemical in “jelly rubber” sex toys — and would ban products that contain the chemical from the city. Silicone sex toys (like SF-based Vixen‘s) would be fine, but pretty much half of women-centric sex toy boutiques’ stock (and nearly all of the garden-variety porn stores’ stock) would be carrying products that could theoretically be included in the chemical ban.
According to today’s article, our supes claim there will be no fines for carrying banned products — but are leaving that option open — and goes on to state that the ban targets products made for children under 3, but other products are cited as well, like plastic wrap. It may come to pass that health officials go around town knocking on baby store doors, and the chances of them going to Frenchy’s to inspect pocket pussies and Vibrating King Dongs are slim-to-none, but I think it’s a thought experiment worth carrying to its conclusion. While the proponents of the ban are citing some pretty scary data about what these chemicals do to humans, no one here is talking about jelly rubber sex toys, which I’ll argue likely provide a very effective means to get these harmful chemicals into the body: by rubbing them in a high-temperature orifice, duh.
Still, this could have a pretty big impact on business as well, and not just baby stores — like every sex toy from China could (or should?) be banned for having potentially harmful chemicals. That’s probably around 90% of the sex toys commercially available in the US.
Read Supervisors to consider ban of certain plastics (popup warning). Snip:
“(…) Some forms of phthalate, a chemical that softens plastic, including polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, would also be banned.
“‘We have a precautionary principle here in San Francisco. It says if there’s a possibility of harm or damage, then we should err on the side of caution,’ Supervisor Fiona Ma, who wrote the ordinance, said Friday. ‘The studies have shown that these toxic chemicals can cause permanent harm to our young people.’
“Supervisors Sophie Maxwell and Michela Alioto-Pier co-authored the measure.
“The widely used industrial chemicals of bisphenol A and phthalates are virtually unknown to the public. But in the last five years, studies have indicated possible damage to the human reproductive system, particularly if exposure occurs during early development. Scientists at the forefront of laboratory animal experiments, as well as environmental and consumer groups, are urging controls as a precautionary measure.”
* My question is, why isn’t anyone taking seriously the need to examine what these chemicals do to humans who come in contact with them via sex toys?
Update: Comments on this post by a Danish researcher after the jump.
* * * * * * *
A Danish researcher and Tiny Nibbles reader (!) emails me to say:
“This Dr. [redacted] speaking. It seems that the most sensitive period
of exposure to phthalates is in utero, which may overlap with mother’s
use of sex toys. So the good news are that if you are past your
reproductive window or doesn’t plan on having kids all together,
there’s probably not much reason to worry.
Doesn’t seem that sex toys have been examined as a source of exposure
(surprise, surprise), but there is a big literature on medical
devices, e.g. tubes and other equipment that comes into close contact
with the body, which might be relevant to consider. I’d be happy to
contact some of the people that do research on this to ask them, if
you are interested. Here’s a few good abstracts:”
[Links to medical journal pdfs redacted unless I get green light to post. But wow.]
