Body-Safe and Eco-Friendly Sex Toy Materials

Environmental awareness has reached the adult products market, where reviewers and retailers began pointing to the materials and waste behind everyday items. An interview with a Canadian sex toy reviewer, who ran a themed month of green product reviews, outlines the main points of that discussion.

The idea behind a green theme

The reviewer explained that the first themed month was informal, a way to introduce readers to alternatives such as non-toxic and low-waste products. A later edition grew into a larger series with daily reviews and contributions from many retailers and makers.

Materials in the spotlight

The main concern was cheap toys made of soft rubber or jelly plastics. These often contain phthalates, chemicals added to make plastic flexible. They can give off a strong smell, and some types have been linked to health worries, which is why certain uses are restricted in consumer goods elsewhere.

Materials generally described as body-safe included:

• Platinum-cured silicone
• Glass
• Ceramic
• Finished wood

These are non-porous or durable, and some can be recycled.

Batteries and disposability

Batteries were treated as a quiet environmental cost. Cheap toys tend to be discarded quickly, adding to landfill waste. Rechargeable devices were presented as one way to avoid disposable cells, since buyers who pay more for a durable item are less likely to throw it away.

Lubricants and personal care ingredients

The interview also raised petrochemicals and preservatives such as parabens in shampoos, body washes, lubricants and massage oils. Scientific evidence on the health effects of such ingredients is still debated, and the reviewer treated clear ingredient labelling as the main point of transparency for intimate products.

Regulation versus consumer pressure

Asked about regulating toy contents, the reviewer was skeptical and preferred informed consumers and market pressure. She suggested that public attention had led some manufacturers to drop certain chemicals.

Porous materials and regulation in Canada

Porous materials can hold moisture and bacteria and are harder to clean thoroughly, which is one reason sexual health educators and many retailers describe non-porous materials as more body-safe. Rules on chemicals in consumer products differ by product category, and Canadian restrictions on certain phthalates have focused mainly on items such as children's toys, so debates about adult products often turn on labelling and voluntary standards.

Whether through law or purchasing habits, the long-running theme is that sex toys, like other consumer goods, are made of materials worth understanding.