First Name Please enter your first name. Last Name Please enter your last name. Email Please enter your email. SMS Please enter your contact number. Street Address Plese enter your street address. Postal Code Please enter your postal code, ex. Yet in our research we found that some manufacturers of lubricant products Durex Play, for example do not even declare the product ingredients on the package, making safe comparative choices impossible.
Because of the way in which personal lubricants are used — in intimate places and in the heat of the moment — most of these ingredients are preservatives such as sodium hydroxide also known as lye or caustic soda that can be irritating to the mucous membranes. Some, like parabens, are not only irritating, they are oestrogenic. Most of the data on skin absorption of these chemicals is based on skin outside the body or on oral ingestion. As always when raising the issue of potentially toxic effects, there will be someone who argues that very large doses of these chemicals need to be ingested or absorbed before they cause harm; but what are the effects low but chronic, exposure over time?
In addition, where is the safety data on the exposure via the mucous membranes to such chemicals? Mucous membranes are the moist layer of semi-permeable tissue lining the mouth, nose, eyes, vagina and anus. Because they do not have the protective layer stratum corneum found on the surface of the outer skin, mucous membranes can be damaged, irritated and penetrated by synthetic chemicals much more easily.
Rectal and vaginal absorption is, generally speaking, many times greater than oral absorption. There are other issues with lubricants that are rarely publicised. Most important of these is their effect on fertility.
Many studies have found that personal lubricants have a deleterious effect on sperm function, reducing motility and the ability of sperm to penetrate cervical mucus, even in the small concentrations of less than 10 per cent found in these products.
In fact, several studies that have looked at the effects of lubricants like K-Y Jelly and its brand rivals, such as Astroglide and Replens, have found that they can be as lethal to sperm as a contraceptive jelly.
For instance, in laboratory data presented to the 28th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Andrology and Andrology Lab Workshops in March , exposure to K-Y Jelly after fertilisation was found to cause a severe decline in the ability of embryos to form in vitro. Personal lubricants can be disastrous for fertility in other ways: for instance, by altering the normal pH of the vagina and cervical mucus. Data from the World Health Organization says that the optimum pH value for sperm migration and survival in cervical mucus is between 7.
In contrast, vaginal lubricants tend to have pH values below 7, and often as low as 3. Another fertility-diminishing factor is the syrupy texture of K-Y products and their ilk.
Because of their viscosity, personal lubricants can prevent sperm from reaching the cervical mucus quickly. The result is that sperm end up dying in the acidic environment of the vagina before they reach the uterus. Sperm is also sensitive to chemicals that alter its osmolality a measure of the total number of particles in a solution such as blood or semen.
Osmolality increases with dehydration and decreases with overhydration — the effect on sperm being to cause cells to either shrink or swell too much.
As osmolality increases, sperm motility decreases, with all motion stopping at mOsm or greater. Lubricants can have osmolality levels three to 10 times that of semen and so cause irreversible damage to sperm motility on contact. A common misconception is that if a lubricant does not contain a spermicide or if it is water soluble, it will not impair sperm function.
However, water-based lubricants often contain glycerine as in K-Y Jelly and propylene glycol, both of which are highly hyperosmotic. K-Y has begun fighting back by rolling out new products, including K-Y Warming Liquid, in stores next month, which heats on contact. A recently introduced K-Y Ultragel offers a thicker consistency than the jelly.
Norman Fertel, a sex therapist in Brooklyn. April 22, am.
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