Greenpeace has issued a warning to adult toy lovers everywhere that certain soft vibrators, dildos, and butt plugs may contain "extremely high concentrations of phthalate plasticisers which allegedly pose a risk to human health and the environment".
Greenpeace Netherlands sent eight popular "soft" toys to a researcher lab to test for levels of phthalate. The lab discovered seven of the eight toys contained high levels of phthalates, including DEHP (di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate) which was last year permanently banned from children's toys in the EU because of a possible health risk to young children.
Greenpeace's Bart van Opzeeland, head of the the organisation's campaign against toxic materials, said: "I cannot remember over the last five years such high concentrations being found in research."
A Greenpeace statement added: "Remember, these are chemicals which do not easily biodegrade and can be dangerous - even in small amounts."
The Phthalates Information Centre Europe, meanwhile, is having none of it. Its website declares: "Plasticised 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."
The five commonly-used phthalates are diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP),
Dibutyl phthalate (DBP), butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP) and the forementioned DEHP.