After over a decade of working with indie sex toy companies and sex educators, while warning and advising the public on unsafe sex toys, I’m giving a heavy endorsement to the Dildology project. My unsafe sex toys and products page was one among a few good starts – now some great people are taking this quest for sex toy health information and standards to the next level of scientific materials analysis and are operating with a transparent process. Say hello – and please consider a donation to – new nonprofit Dildology and their open sex toys database/Wiki.
- Dildology’s main donation page with multiple options is here.
- Vote to support the start of Dildology’s fundraiser at Offbeatr and learn how to donate here.
- Follow Dildology on Twitter for updates.
As mentioned in my last Sex News post, the majority of sex toys from mainstream manufacturers (Doc Johnson, Pipedream, Cal Exotics, Hustler, etc) are unsafe toys made in China – toys from toxic, untested materials, all with the escape clause as being sold “for novelty use only.” Most consumers have no idea.
Hey Epiphora (“Where sex toys go to be judged”) sums it up in their recent post, Once and for all: what’s in our sex toys? where they write:
Dildology is a brand new non-profit organization run by Dangerous Lilly, Crista Anne, and Val Orenda that will send sex toys to labs to have them independently tested. With this, there will finally be some accountability within the industry, and we’ll have a much better idea which manufacturers to trust — and which to side-eye.
Unfortunately, testing is not cheap. To the tune of $200-450 per toy. To remain unaffiliated and unbiased, Dildology won’t be able to sell advertising space, so they’re relying on donations.
Sex toys should not stink, melt, taste gross, be made of mystery materials, should not have misleading or false packaging, should not cause infections, or be made from materials known to be carcinogenic.
Dildology spells out their terms – and unlike certain tech bloggers, Dildology has strict policies already in place to cut bribery off at the pass.
Dildology.org intends to provide material verification services and maintain a public database of the results, adding transparency and oversight to the industry while educating the public about the science behind pleasure products. We stand on our own, uninfluenced, and we are dedicated to protecting the health and wellbeing of the dildo-loving population at large through education (and maybe a little entertainment). (…)
WE WILL:
* accept monetary donations.
* accept product donations from third-party retail stores and wholesalers.
* purchase products from third-party retail stores.
* choose products to test based on community feedback.
* send products to accredited labs for testing.
* compare the material composition of products to the manufacturers’ claims.
* share the results of lab tests with manufacturers.
* record the results of the lab tests in our wiki.
* make our wiki available to the public.
* provide other educational resources to the public.WE WILL NOT:
* accept product donations directly from manufacturers.
* test second-hand products – only those acquired directly from retail stores and wholesalers.
* test any product manufactured more than one year ago.
* publish opinions about products or manufacturers – only facts.
* falsify data, for any reason.
* suppress or fail to publish the results of any test.
Hi there
I just want to post a belated thank you. This is exactly the sort of thing that helped me when I first started shopping for adult toys. I can’t remember the name of the post, but you listed safe and unsafe materials and provided a list of websites to shop at.
Thank you so much!
Thanks for supporting Dildology :)
One thing that I’m personally working on writing about is actually the “novelty” term. I’ve talked to a few industry people who are telling me that the novelty term is being used in lieu of having to call the items a “medical device” for exporting and tariffs, and that legally the novelty use disclaimer wouldn’t prevent someone from suing if they were hurt (frankly, the sex-negative culture here in the US prevents the lawsuits, in my opinion). I’m trying to find as much “fact” as possible amidst the “PR fluff” as possible before I publish it, though – man that is not easy. But I don’t disagree that China plants are a problem. I do however think that these manufacturers should be randomly testing (and then acting on the results) the products in a lab. Of course, many don’t care. Yet. I really hope Dildology changes that attitude over time! Because it all comes down to the demands of their customers, right? The demands about phthalates got their attention, but it’s not enough.
We have so much bullshit to wade through. Luckily the sex-pos army is growing!