‘Better than nothing’:Sex toy industry adopts voluntary safety standards

The multibillion-dollar sex toy industry has adopted its first global safety standards amid a boom in sales,but sex experts warn the voluntary scheme is not enough to protect consumers.

Australian retailers such as Wild Secrets and Adulttoymegastore have reportedbooming sales for sex toys such as vibrators throughout the pandemic,especially during lockdowns. Globally,the industry was worth $US33.64 billion ($44.86 billion) in sales in 2020,according to Grand View Research,yet there were no safety standards until now.

Sales of sex toys have boomed during the pandemic.

Sales of sex toys have boomed during the pandemic.iStock

In September,the International Organisation for Standardisation published its first design andsafety requirements for sex toys after a two-year project.

The ISO project was kicked off by Swedish surgeon Martin Dahlberg who realised he was increasingly performing operations to remove sex toys lodged in the rectum.

“At our hospital about 40 per cent of cases of retained foreign objects are due to sex toys,” Dr Dahlberg said in a statement. “I contacted the[Swedish] consumer protection agency in early 2018 to find out if there was any regulation in the sex toys market,but there was not. Yet,several possible injuries can result from the wrong use of sex toys.”

NSW Health does not have figures on injuries by cause and there has been no increase in the type of injuries that could be associated with sex toys.

To comply with the new ISO standards,manufacturers of sex toys must use “body-safe” material in the event of contact with the genital and anal areas,use a design to minimise the risk of injury during reasonable and predictable use,and provide sufficient information.

Vanessa Millie Rose,an Australian clinical sexuality coach certified by the American College of Sexologists International who has previously worked at major adult retailers,said the ISO standards were “better than nothing” – but being voluntary,they did little to protect the general consumer.

“There are major sex toy retailers in Australia that are knowingly selling products that are unsafe,due to their design or materials,and these are among their best sellers,” Ms Rose said.

“I’m not just talking about cheap $20 vibrators but there are certain sex dolls that are upwards of $2000,some of which use materials known to be unsafe and unable to be fully cleaned.”

While the ISO standards ban toxic or allergenic materials such as phthalates,alkyl phenols or cadmium,Ms Rose said another problem was porous “realistic feel” materials that could not be cleaned properly and bred bacteria.

Alisha Williams,the founder of a sex toy manufacturer and retailer Rosewell,said she started her company in part because she was concerned about the safety of what was on the market and the lack of transparent information.

“The term ‘body safe’ doesn’t have a regulated meaning,so I’m not sure how consumers can make choices when the terminology doesn’t really mean anything,” she said. “For me,it was important to use medical-grade silicone.”

Ms Williams said the Australian government should regulate the industry,including to ensure safe disposal because electronic sex toys such as vibrators were e-waste and could not be disposed of in the roadside rubbish collection.

A statement from Lovehoney Group,the parent company behind We-Vibe and one of the manufacturers that helped develop the safety standard,says it is up to each country’s regulators to enact laws to make the standard mandatory.

A spokesperson for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission confirmed there were no mandatory safety standards for sex toys under Australian Consumer Law,and it had not received any complaints about injuries from sex toys since 2016.

The spokesperson said the consumer watchdog would only intervene “when considered reasonably necessary to prevent or reduce the risk of death or injury to a person” and confirmed it could base a mandatory standard on a voluntary one.

Erin Turner,director of campaigns at consumer advocacy group Choice,said the government should adopt a “general safety provision” that would introduce penalties for manufacturers and retailers that knowingly sell products that are unsafe.

“Standards that cover specific products will always mean that we have gaps and voluntary standards will never stop bad actors,” Ms Turner said.

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Caitlin Fitzsimmons was the former deputy editor of BRW and a writer on entrepreneurship for The Australian Financial Review.

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