According to a Greenpeace spokesman, many adult sex toys contain “the same toxic substances that the EU banned from use in children’s toys.”
Greenpeace said that seven of the eight toys it tested contained between 24 and 51 percent phthalates.
The one product tested that did not contain phthalates was the Cyber Pussy, a product produced by Topco.
"It is unbelievable that such toxic substances can be used in adult toys,” Bart van Opzeeland of Greenpeace said. "We have tested many products in the last few years but never have we encountered such high concentrations."
Phthalates, produced from oil, are commonly used plasticisers around the world. They have been in use for nearly 50 years to make polyvinyl chloride soft and flexible.
"Hallmarks of these substances include that they don't biodegrade well in the environment and can be harmful even in small amounts," van Opzeeland said.
According to Greenpeace, the phthalate DEHP, which was banned from children’s toys in the EU last year amid fears that it could have damaging health effects for kids, was found to be used in the sex toys studied.
The EU Commission for Health and Consumer Protection lists the risk assessment for DEHP as “open” because “scientific data is still being considered.”
Greenpeace used TNO research lab to conduct the analysis. The study did not name any specific sex toy manufacturer.
According to Greenpeace, the manufacturers of the so-called toxic products have “excellent alternatives” to phthalates.
The Phthalates Information Centre Europe said the chemicals are safe and that Greenpeace was wrong.
"Plasticized PVC has been used for nearly 50 years without a single known case of it having caused any ill-health and the environmental effects of phthalates are known to be minimal," a spokesman for The Phthalates Information Centre Europe said.
A report in The Register, an English newspaper said that lab rodents exposed to high levels of phthalates suffered damage to their livers, kidneys and lungs. The rats also had trouble developing testicles, according to the paper.