Sex Toys Pose No Health Risk
Updated: Thu, Aug 02 11:12 AM EDT
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Adult sex toys pose no health risk even though they contain chemicals banned from baby toys last year because of health fears, the European Commission said on Thursday.
"There is no evidence that people using sex toys are at risk," Health and Consumer Protection spokesman Torsten Muench told reporters, stressing the European Union had no plan to ban the chemicals from sexual aids.
Consumer campaigners have linked phthalates, used to soften the otherwise rigid polyvinyl chloride (PVC), to liver and kidney damage and testicular problems.
EU governments last year imposed an emergency ban on the use of phthalates in some baby toys, because of fears that the chemicals could harm babies by leaking out of toys designed to be put in their mouths.
The plastics industry disputes any risk, arguing that not enough chemicals are leaked to pose a problem.
Muench said a German study of levels of phthalates in sex toys failed to report any leakage of the chemicals.
The study did however show chemical levels in sex toys up to 20 times higher than the legal limit in baby toys, he said.
Updated: Thu, Aug 02 11:12 AM EDT
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Adult sex toys pose no health risk even though they contain chemicals banned from baby toys last year because of health fears, the European Commission said on Thursday.
"There is no evidence that people using sex toys are at risk," Health and Consumer Protection spokesman Torsten Muench told reporters, stressing the European Union had no plan to ban the chemicals from sexual aids.
Consumer campaigners have linked phthalates, used to soften the otherwise rigid polyvinyl chloride (PVC), to liver and kidney damage and testicular problems.
EU governments last year imposed an emergency ban on the use of phthalates in some baby toys, because of fears that the chemicals could harm babies by leaking out of toys designed to be put in their mouths.
The plastics industry disputes any risk, arguing that not enough chemicals are leaked to pose a problem.
Muench said a German study of levels of phthalates in sex toys failed to report any leakage of the chemicals.
The study did however show chemical levels in sex toys up to 20 times higher than the legal limit in baby toys, he said.
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