In "When Sex Toys Turn Green," columnist Brian Alexander discussed the adult toy industry's take on phthalate use — the chemical the makes colorful jelly toys bright and floppy — and even enlisted the knowledge of sex-positive retailers Good Vibrations and Babeland, two stores that take an educational approach in their sales.
"I think that this year the sex toy industry really has been taken into the mainstream," Babeland Marketing Coordinator Mae Schultz told XBIZ. "We've been getting contacted by more and more mainstream publications, and people are just accepting that sex toys are here and they're not that big of a deal."
Schultz told XBIZ that phthalate education was a hot topic at the Babeland booth at this year's Erotica convention, where she spent much of her time informing customers why the phthalate-free products for sale cost more, but are well worth the price.
"Our toys were a lot more expensive than anyone else's booth," Schultz said, "so we were explaining that yeah, there's the price, but it's also a lot healthier for you."
Phthalates are found in all sorts of everyday products, not just sex toys, and the gas emitted is easily absorbed by the human body. Alexander reported that phthalates are found in medical devices, hair sprays and even are responsible for that "new car smell."
A 2004 study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that in urine samples collected from 2,540 people older than 6 years of age, more than 75 percent contained traces of phthalates.
There's no scientific consensus on whether phthalates are, in fact, bad for the body, toy manufacturer CalExotics told XBIZ earlier this year. The company said it relied on the results of several international studies to determine its products, some of which contain trace amounts of the plastic, are harmless to users.
Either way, Babeland and Good Vibes said they would rather be safe than sorry, and offer a slew of high-quality phthalate-free toys to customers.
"There are a lot better [toy] options in the past few years," Schultz said. "There are all different kinds of silicone, the soft and the hard, and I think having more options really helps people explore more and get more excited about it, so it naturally becomes more mainstream."