Is Lubrication as Slick as it Seems?

The primary function of personal lubrication products is to make things go more smoothly in the bedroom.

But what happens afterwards? With all of the chemicals which go into making up lube, is there a risk to our skin and bodies through excessive use? And what about the bigger picture – washing lube down the plughole might put it out of mind, but can it have a knock-on effect on the ocean, its inhabitants and the environment as a whole?

 These are exactly the questions posited by one curious reader to Grist magazine. The answers, while inconclusive, certainly don’t make for comfortable reading or the basis of much pillow talk.

Silicon – the bioaccumulative nuisance

On the one hand, the good news is that lube doesn’t contain the microbeads that were recently banned by President Obama due to their harmful effects on the environment. The bad news? They’re composed mostly of silicon, which is a bioaccumulative substance that is not easily broken down and instead builds up over time.

Indeed, according to a study published in the journal Environment, Science and Technology, traces of silicon compounds such as cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes have been found in krill, soil and plant life all the way down in Antarctica! If silicon can be transported to one of the most remote regions of our planet after it enters our oceans, it must have quite the staying power.

But despite its proven resilience, we can’t be certain what this actually means, either in environmental or personal health terms. There has not been enough research conducted into silicon to determine whether it can disrupt the food chain – but judging by its longevity and by the amount of it already present in the atmosphere, we might soon find out.

Parabens – the pesky preservative

Parabens are often used to help preserve lube so that it has a longer shelf life, thus maximising profit and convenience. However, parabens don’t have an entirely squeaky clean relationship. As well as being known to be a skin irritant to some (which would certainly negate the lube’s primary function in the bedroom), they have also been linked to endocrine disruption.

For the uninitiated, this means that they have the potential to affect hormones, both in humans and animals. Though there is not a huge body of evidence elucidating their exact effects on us, there is certain evidence suggesting they may adversely affect sea life, while some of them are banned in consumer products across the EU.

What’s more, lube may also contain other substances that have not yet been proven to be harmful, but of which regulatory bodies are increasingly suspicious. These have been termed “contaminants of emerging concern” (CECs) and could have negative effects on marine life, which in turn could work up through the food chain. In several instances, CECs were found to have gender-changing effects on life beneath the waves.

What can be done?

As always, reducing your impact on the environment as much as possible is desirable, and it’s no different when it comes to your bedroom antics. Therefore, looking into environmentally-friendly lubricant alternatives (of which there are a variety of options) is the advisable course of action.