17th Nov 2007
Lubes. Kinda Bad Body News.
This is in no way a real sex tip on Surviving the Workday.
However. You may know I have sort of an interest in environmental ethics, so I often mention environmental issues that are tangential to spirituality and the workplace. Like if a company put a lot of harmful chemicals in a product that many people use.
So.
Most people don’t know:
- that most lubricants have all sorts of gross chemicals in them, like parabens, the family of chemicals linked to reproductive problems in men and women because they mimic estrogen and function as endocrine disruptors;
- that most lubricants also alter the pH of the vagina, which is a bad thing; and
- that lubricants basically kill sperm. Now if that’s a goal, that might be a good thing; but if you want your sperm live, it’s a really bad thing.
I’m just mentioning it because I wish someone had told me a few years ago. Lubes. Mostly bad news at least in the heterosexual reproductive arena.
Via The Ecologist
And, on a somewhat related noted, Green to Grow now produces bisphenol-free and pthalate free bottles, which you might be interested in if you have a baby.
The flip side of this article is that water-based latex-safe lubricants reduce the risk of condom breakage, provide the needed lubrication for folks who engage in anal intercourse, and improves pleasure.
Here’s what Planned Parenthood says about lubricants:
“Changes in sexual arousal and lubrication patterns may also be associated with other events in a woman’s life. Having a new sex partner, or being with the same partner for many years, may affect the patterns of all the stages of a woman’s sexual response cycle: desire, arousal, excitement, and orgasm. Various health conditions — including depression and diabetes, for example — may also affect her sex drive. Age itself also has an effect. In fact, during perimenopause and menopause, many, if not most, women experience vaginal dryness.
Women who would like increased lubrication should not be shy about using over-the-counter lubricants to enhance sexual pleasure. There are hundreds of products on the market to choose from. There are only two important cautions: Oil-based lubricants can damage latex condoms. Silicone-based lubricants can damage barrier contraceptives made of silicone, such as Lea’s Shield and FemCap, and a wide variety of sex toys that are also made of silicone. So, if you use sex toys or latex condoms, you won’t go wrong if you purchase a water-based lubricant.”
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/sexual-health/ask-dr-cullins/ask-dr-cullins-sex-5263.htm
Since Planned Parenthood is a non-profit healthcare provider who isn’t making any money off their recommendation of over-the-counter personal lubricants, this advice should be good medical advice without financial conflicts of interest.
Yeah, I’ve used Planned Parenthood services for years and support them in a number of ways. They are usually a really good source of information on preventing pregnancy.
But as I said, this is more about heterosexual reproductive sex, which doesn’t benefit from lubes. They prevent sperm from doing their thing.
True that lubes can have spermicidal properties — however, it’s also true that most sexuality isn’t reproduction-focused but for other purposes even in heterosexual couples (express love and caring, relaxation, pleasure, etc).
And Planned Parenthood provides more than just pregnancy prevention — many affiliates also provide sexuality education on values, communication, etc just like we provide in our UU congregations. In fact, many of the curriculum trainers for the Our Whole Lives program work for Planned Parenthood when they are not working in our congregations.
You know I actually had sexuality education through Our Whole Lives as a junior high kid.
I’d like to reiterate that we need to be careful of paraben use in all products, and many lubricants contain parabens (not all), that lubricants are very capable of changing the pH of the vagina, and that lubricants function as spermicide in many cases, which is important to know if you are trying to have a baby, as some readers are.. I don’t think that message is out there.
Steve, I don’t think the underlying message here is “don’t use lubes” but to be informed about what you’re getting - not all are created equally safe or suitable.