Condom dangers

[PaulKing]

CONDOMS AS PROTECTION

Editor of Rubber Chemistry and Technology, Dr. C. Michael Roland of the
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C., spoke about his
research on "intrinsic flaws" in latex rubber condoms and surgical gloves
(published in Rubber World, June, 1993).

Roland said that what I am about to relate is "common knowledge among good
scientists who have no political agenda."

Electron microscopy reveals the HIV virus to be about O.1 microns in size
(a micron is a millionth of a metre). It is 60 times smaller than a
syphilis bacterium, and 450 times smaller than a single human sperm.

The standard U.S. government leakage test (ASTM) will detect water leakage
through holes only as small as 10 to 12 microns (most condoms sold in
Canada are made in the U.S.A., but I'll mention the Canadian test below).
Roland says in good tests based on these standards, 33% of all condoms
tested allowed HIV-sized particles through, and that "spermicidal agents
such as nonoxonol-9 may actually ease the passage."

Roland's paper shows electron microscopy photos of natural latex. You can
see the natural holes, or intrinsic flaws. The "inherent defects in
natural rubber range between 5 and 70 microns."

And it's not as if governments don't know. A study by Dr. R.F. Carey of
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that "leakage of HIV-sized
particles through latex condoms was detectable for as many as 29 of 89
condoms tested." These were brand new, pre-approved condoms. But Roland
says a closer reading of Carey's data actually yields a 78% HIV-leakage
rate, and concludes: "That the CDC would promote condoms based on [this]
study...suggests its agenda is concerned with something other than public
health and welfare." The federal government's standard tests, he adds,
"cannot detect flaws even 70 times larger than the AIDS virus." Such tests
are "blind to leakage volumes less tha one microliter - yet this quantity
of fluid from an AIDS-infected individual has been found to contain as
many as 100,000 HIV particles."

As one U.S. surgeon memorably put it, "The HIV virus can go through a
condom like a bullet through a tennis net."

It's the same story with latex gloves. Gloves from four different
manufacturers revealed "pits as large as 15 microns wide and 30 microns
deep." More relevant to HIV transmission, "5 micron-wide channels,
penetrating the entire thickness were found in all the gloves." He said
the presence of such defects in latex "is well established."

For Canada, the story is the same. A standard Health and Welfare Canada
test of condoms manufactured between 1987 and 1990, based on stringent
tests of pressure, leakage, and volume (as in the U.S., there is no effort
to examine micron-level leakage), reported that an astonishing 40% of the
condoms tested failed at least one of the tests. Tests in 1991 showed an
"improved" 28% rate.

_________

The few statistics illustrating the effect of condoms use on HIV transmission in
homosexual acts do not give clear cut results.
R.Detels (1989)lxxxix observed a 2.9% drop in seroconversion when condoms were used in homosexual intercourse, in a cohort of 2915 active homosexuals initally
HIV sero-negative.

But, in that statistic, the number of partners for each member of the cohort was almost as important a factor as the use or not of a condom.
L.Levin et al. (1995)xc found that most (71%) of the 140 active-duty young men with documented sero-conversion who were identified in various US army installations did use a condom during their homosexual or heterosexual relations.

Results seemed to indicate a paradoxal increased risk of seroconversion proportional to condom use in this series.

CONDOMS AND CANCER

May 29, 2004

Potent Carcinogen found in Most Condoms

Recent study has discovered the presence of a very potent carcinogen in most condoms. Small amounts of this chemical are released whenever condoms are used.

Nobody knows whether this is serious yet however it is not likely to be healthy to expose the reproductive organs to cancer-causing substances on a regular basis.

This is a potentially serious issue for much of the world's population that cannot afford or access other forms of birth control. I hope further studies will follow on this soon. Could this be related to the rise in cancer in women, and men as well?
May 29, 2004 in Medicine | Permalink

http://novaspivack.typepad.com/nova_..._carcinog.html

------------

Anal cancer is at least 20 times more common in homosexual men than in heterosexual men.

"Is Screening for Anal Cancer Warranted in Homosexual Men?"
Sexual Health (09.04) Vol. 1; No. 3: P. 137-140::Jonathan StC. Anderson; Claire Vajdic; Andrew E. Grulich

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Condom Talc danger is very serious

ALL CONDOMS ARE COATED WITH TALC TO PREVENT THEM STICKING TOGETHER

Talc

Talc is a very fine substance, so fine it can be used as a "dry" lubricant.

Talc is a chemical similar to asbestos, a known cancer causing substance. Talc is found in many "baby and body" powders, feminine powders and many cosmetics. It's alsp used as a lubricant on condoms! While it makes your skin "feel" slippery smooth, talc does so much more.

How does talc keep babies and your private parts so "fresh"? Presumably by clogging the pores that secrete those necessary fluids. Also, those fine little particles manage to get into the system. And being similar to asbestos is not comforting, especially when used on babies and genital areas.

Talc's harmful effect on human tissues has been known for quite some time. Long ago, its dry lubricating properties were used as a glove-donning powder (easy to slide on) for surgical gloves. As early as the 1930's, talc was linked to post-operative granulomatous peritonitis and fibrous adhesions.
-from Candace Sue Kasper, MD and Dr. P. J. Chandler

Talc...(on condoms)...may result in fallopian tube fibrosis with resultant infertility. Question raised by Doctors Kasper and Chandler in Journal of the American Medical Association. (JAMA) 3/15/95
-from Nutrition Health Review, Summer 1995 n73p8(1)

"A possible tie between talcum powder and ovarian cancer, long suspected because of talc's chemical similarity to asbestos, was strongly supported last week when a study found a higher risk of the cancer among women who used feminine deodorant sprays. The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that women who used talcum powder in the genital area had an increased ovarian cancer risk of 60% and women who used feminine deodorant sprays had a 90% increased risk." In 1994, the FDA conducted a scientific workshop on the issue and did not find enough of a casual link to justify even a consumer warning.
-from The University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter, April 1993 v9n7p1(2)

_____________

LATEX DEATHS

THE FDA SAYS ONLY 1% OF LATEX DEATHS ARE REPORTED

Delayed contact dermatitis from chemicals in rubber has been recognized since the 1930s.4 But except for rare early reports, clinicians did not appreciate systemic allergic reactions to latex proteins until 1979, when case reports began to appear in Europe. 5

Latex allergy erupted in the United States shortly after the Centers for Disease Control introduced universal precautions in 1987. By late 1992, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received 1133 reports of serious allergic reactions and anaphylaxis occurring to patients and health care staff associated with 30 classes of latex medical devices. There were 15 patient deaths associated with latex barium enema catheters.5,6

The FDA estimated that the reports represented only 1% of actual occurrences.6

_________

Recent reports in the literature indicate that from about 1 percent to 6 percent of the general population and about 8 percent to 12 percent of regularly exposed health care workers are sensitized to latex.

An estimated 17 million Americans are now sensitive to latex ( up from not one recorded case twenty years ago).

_________

CONDOMS HAVE ALSO BEEN LINKED TO BIRTH DEFECTS, INFIRTILITY (in men), PREECLAMPSIA, AND A HOST OF OTHER SERIOUS CONDITIONS.

[VegasLee]

and I am willing to bet of you look hard enough it will be proven that condoms have caused cancer in rats. Everything causes cancer in rats.

[rpu3]

No offense truly intended, but do you have any study more current than 1994?

Seriously, any finding can be manipulated to the researcher's intent. Thus, I'd be interested in knowing if you have any follow-up studies to your cites (given that many Ph.D. candidates make their thesis based on proving or disproving someone else's work) or, more importantly, any study that isn't 13+ years old?

[PaulKing]

If you look you will see the most important study showing comdoms cause cancer was done in 2004.

[two4youinswva]

So, I guess you prefer bareback?

[BiloxiCouple]

So now that you have quoted all these statements, was there a question?

[ktimephoenix]

So they are claiming that HIV transmission is more likely if your wearing a condom? fail to see how, unless it's through people being less scrupulous with partner selection?

[Malachista]

a) I'm pretty sure people have at least tried to improve condoms since 1995
b) 30% of statistic protection still beats 0%

[rpu3]

Originally Posted by PaulKing

If you look you will see the most important study showing comdoms cause cancer was done in 2004.

You cited a 2004 blog that mentions the study. The blog contains a link to a Reuters news story and said link no longer works. A blog mention isn't exactly a credible "study" and definitely doesn't qualify in my mind as "the most important study".

I was looking for the cite to the actual journal article or the medical paper, etc., like you provided for your older studies. Not a blog.

[lott]

This is true about the condoms pore size and HIV but what is forgotten is that the virus is trapped inside a thick viscous liquid like semen or vaginal fluids and therefore condoms have a high rate of preventing the virus from spreading.

For added protection using astroglide gel will give kill the virus in about 5 minutes.

Astroglide fights/blocks HIV in lab tests

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Home > Sexual Lubricants >
Astroglide fights/blocks HIV in lab tests.
astroglideReuters reports that Astroglide Personal Lubricant has been found to block the replication of the human immunodeficiency virus in lab tests. The lubricants killed HIV-infected white blood cells and HIV in seminal fluid, according to researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

Dr. Samuel Baron and colleagues conducted the study to examine over-the-counter vaginal preparations for their ability to inhibit HIV production.

While the spermicide nonoxynol-9 has been found in lab tests to fight HIV, it doesn't prevent the virus from spreading, probably because it causes genital irritation, the authors note in the July 20th issue of AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. For this reason, the researchers only looked at non-irritating lubricants.

Astroglide lubes inhibited HIV production by more than 1,000-fold when mixed in test tubes with cells contained in semen. When the preparation was mixed with cell-free semen containing the virus, it cut HIV replication eightfold.

Inactivation of the virus began within 5 minutes after the preparation was added, and the lubricant remained active for more than 8 hours at human body temperature. When layered over cells, the lubricant was still able to kill, indicating that their protective activity can diffuse into seminal fluid. The lubricant was still active when diluted in a one-to-four ratio.

Since submission of their report, the investigators have identified two components that are responsible for the inhibitory effects, Baron told Reuters Health. These components appear to interact with the lipid or fatty membrane that surrounds both the virus and the infected cells, he said.

"These materials we have identified are by the most stringent standards safe, falling in the Food and Drug Administration's No. 1 safety category,'' Baron noted. ``This separates them out completely from nonoxynol-9.''

He cautions that condoms remain the recommended method for preventing HIV transmission during sexual activity. However, Baron and his colleagues highly recommend that field trials of these agents be conducted among people at risk.

SOURCE: Reuters Health & AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses 2001;17:997-1002.

[lott]

I forgot to mention that condoms are electronically pinhole tested which means if there are any types of pores letting anything through, it will detect it and each condom it tested so condoms are a much better form of protection than bareback.

[SJK977]

OMG! I guess all that's left is for us to delete our profiles and hide in a deep dark hole!