I'm an old fart, billy, but the 'prazzoo' is a new one on me! Way-to-go, pal...
Posted on 05/29/2004 10:12:54 PM PDT by pepsionice
A German scientific research institute has warned that most condoms on the market contain a cancer-causing chemical and has urged that their manufacture be subjected to stringent quality control.
The Chemical and Veterinary Investigation Institute in Stuttgart said on Friday it had found the carcinogen N-Nitrosamine in 29 of 32 types of condoms it tested in simulated conditions.
The condoms, which were kept in a solution with artificial sweat, exuded huge amounts of cancer-causing N-Nitrosamine from its rubber coating. Researchers measured amounts of N-Nitrosamine, that were way above the prescribed limits for other rubber products such as baby pacifiers.
"N-Nitrosamine is one of the most carcinogenic substances," the study's authors said. "There is a pressing need for manufacturers to tackle this problem."
The study said that the carcinogen is thought to be present in a substance used to improve condom elasticity. When the rubber material comes in contact with human bodily fluids, it can release traces of N-Nitrosamine.
But since there are no prescribed limits of N-Nitrosamine for condoms, the study hasn't caused panic among manufacturers or mass-recalling of the products from counters.
Local government officials said condom users should not stop using rubber contraceptives based on the results of the study because N-Nitrosamine does not present an immediate health risk.
The Baden-Würtemmberg Social Ministry said it didn't think "it posed a risk." Authorities are also withholding the name of the affected manufacturers for fear of litigation.
Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment said that daily condom use exposed users to N-Nitrosamine levels up to three times higher than levels naturally present in food.
Werner Altkofer, head of the Stuttgart-based Chemical and Veterinary Investigation Institute said that though the production of rubber usually uses chemicals that can exude N-Nitrosamine, condom manufacturers could bypass it by using more expensive alternative substances available on the market that didn't form the carcinogen.
"We believe that it's up to the manufacturers to use other production processes so that no N-Nitrosamine is formed in condoms," Altkofer said.
He added that the latter was technically possible going by the fact that products of some manufacturers didn't show traces of the carcinogen during the testing.
LOL - sounds more like a guy who wants an excuse not to use a condom.
Glad I had six kids....
I wonder just how bad of a carcinogen the compound is
If they wanted to take up a collection a lot of guys would contribute to this research.
"Safe Sex" ping...
Huge amounts! Huge! That's, like, scientific for 1.257e13 times the lethal dosage per square kilogram of body weight, or something like that. Thank gosh we have science reporters to dumb it down for us!
Anyway, the lesson here is obvious. Do not soak your condoms in solution of human sweat and consume orally. Also, do not use condoms as baby pacifiers. Find something else to do with them. I've seen them blown up and made into balloon animals.
And socks cause hemehroids, right?
I'm an old fart, billy, but the 'prazzoo' is a new one on me! Way-to-go, pal...
Hmmm... AIDS OR CANCER..... such a dilemma. It appears the cancer risk is much lower than the sexually transmitted diseases one could be exposed to.
Dihydrogen Monoxide alert.
Junk Science.
Memorial day slow news days.
Because there's nothing as fun as hyping up a bunch of cats with catnip and dropping them in a room full of deadly chemicals.
Yup- this was a teaser for last night's late news. Kind-of like the shampoo makes you stupid news from last week.
Wonder if this substance is more likely to cause cancer in men or in women, or if that is even known.
As a professional chemist, I can assure you: urea solution would slowly react with N-nitrosamines. And urea occurs naturally right where needed...
EXTRACTION OF N-NITROSAMINE
(N-NITROSOPYRROLIDINE) FROM BACON
yeah and stop eating your bacon.
http://www.jtbaker.com/techlib/documents/ff-009.html
I'm an old fart, myself, and there are times that I wish the prazzoo was a new one on me, too.
I should actually read some of the spam I get. I think I can get a new one chemically these days....
Well, maybe people shouldn't be making the bacon....
Good news for the lads in San Francisco, Palm Springs and Key West bump!
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