I noticed that your ForPlay Adult Toy Cleaner contains Nonoxynol-9. I thought that research found that using Nonoxynol-9 increases your risk of getting STDs, including HIV. Isn’t this also why the CDC no longer recommends using condoms with Nonoxynol-9? Shouldn’t you stop selling products with Nonoxynol-9 too?
Thank you for your excellent and very timely question. There is a lot of confusion surrounding recent research and recommendations regarding Nonoxynol-9.
Nonoxynol-9 has been around for a long time and was used as a cleansing agent well before anyone thought to use it to prevent pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections. As a disinfectant (and as an ingredient in ForPlay Adult Toy Cleaner), it is superb, killing both bacteria and viruses on most surfaces.
Nonoxynol-9 also has a long history as a moderately-effective spermicide when used in products such as contraceptive foam. Those products are still available and, while not as effective as some other forms of contraception, are certainly better than none at all.
But the recent controversy surrounding Nonoxynol-9 has nothing to do with either of these uses; it has to do with Nonoxynol-9's role in the transmission of HIV when used on condoms.
Back when I was a research scientist at the HIV Center at Columbia University, we, like many researchers around the world, were quite hopeful that Nonoxynol-9 could help slow the spread of HIV. This seemed logical since it killed HIV on contact in the lab, but in real-world use, this turned out not to be the case.
More recent research has shown why this was so. When used in concentrations high enough to have a positive effect, it would also irritate the sensitive membranes of the skin to the point where it actually became easier for an infection to occur. Therefore, the CDC stopped recommending the use of condoms or lubricants with Nonoxynol-9. These condoms had never been proven to be more effective at preventing pregnancy anyway, but until that warning there had been no research showing any harmful effects.
Clearly, none of the lubricants or condoms we sell at MyPleasure contain Nonoxynol-9. However, as a cleanser, it is still about as good as they come. The only recommendation I would make is that if you use a Nonoxynol-9-based cleaner for your toys, be sure to rinse them off thoroughly before using them again.
I hope this helps answer your questions.
MyPleasure provides up-to-date and useful sexual education materials in combination with a store that allows people to buy, try, and learn about new aspects of sexuality. We believe everybody deserves a great sex life.
