There is a saying circulating on the Internet that condoms and pacifiers can cause cancer because they are rubber products and rubber contains carcinogens.
These two are closely related to daily life, we must make it clear! Where there are rumors, there are clove doctors to refute them!
Condoms and pacifiers, how [carcinogenic]?
Compared with the rubber in condoms and pacifiers, it should be said that rubber will involve carcinogens in the production process.
A substance called MBT (full name [mercaptobenzothiazole]) is used in the production of rubber to accelerate rubber vulcanization and kill fungi.
At the beginning of 2016, WHO (World Health Organization) listed MBT as a Class 2A carcinogen, that is, a [highly probable] carcinogen.
This is also the original source of the claim that rubber products such as condoms and pacifiers cause cancer.
What? So, is it true that condoms and pacifiers cause cancer?
Don’t worry, listen to me out.
Ordinary people need not worry too much.
MBT ≠ Rubber, this must be made clear.
MBT is only the material needed in the process of making rubber, so MBT is a Class 2A carcinogen, but it does not mean that rubber is also the same.
When WHO discusses the impact of MBT carcinogenicity on human body, it refers more to the impact on relevant employees in the rubber industry, such as workers in chemical plants, rubber factories and tire factories. They will be exposed to the impact of MBT for a long time in their work, and the dose they are exposed to is far greater than that of ordinary people.
There is no evidence to prove that short-term or low-dose exposure to MBT can cause cancer, while most ordinary people are not exposed to rubber production environment for a long time, and the exposure to MBT is much less than that of relevant workers.
So… do you want to worry about the residual MBT?
At this time, someone may ask:
Although rubber does not cause cancer, after all, the manufacturing process will come into contact with carcinogens such as MBT. Will MBT remain on condoms and pacifiers?
Although MBT is a carcinogen with high possibility, the absorption rate of MBT by human skin is not high.
Some scientists have calculated the absorption rate of human skin to MBT, which is only about 0.62%. There is a standard that if the skin absorption rate of a certain substance is less than 1%, it will generally not have a serious impact on human body. At present, there is no research that can prove that skin contact with MBT will produce short-term, acute toxicity, or long-term, chronic toxicity.
There are no reliable data on whether and how much condoms contain MBT. However, according to the existing research, even if it does, ordinary skin contact will not cause what effects.
If we give up this quite [reliable] contraceptive method just for the [unreliable] carcinogenic attribute of condoms, it will do more harm than good.
As for the rubber of the pacifier, it is still different from the rubber of the condom: the rubber of the pacifier belongs to the edible grade rubber, and as long as it is a qualified product, it will not contain MBT.
However, the World Health Organization investigation found a case of pacifier containing low dose MBT. After all, it is different to enter the mouth and skin, so we should be careful.
Pacifiers will enter the mouth. When buying bottle pacifiers and pacifiers, you must buy products with guaranteed quality produced by regular manufacturers.
There is no need to panic at the sound of [carcinogenesis]
As mentioned earlier, MBT is a Class 2A carcinogen, which means what?
The concept of carcinogen classification was determined by the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC), which divided carcinogens into 4 categories (5 in total):
- Category 1 carcinogens: [definitely] carcinogenic substances Category 2A carcinogens: [highly likely] carcinogenic substances Category 2B carcinogens: [less likely] carcinogenic substances Category 3 carcinogens: [not yet classified] carcinogens Category 4 carcinogens: is a substance [possibly not] carcinogenic to human body
Although MBT is a Class 2A carcinogen, you should know that tobacco, alcohol, ham and other bacon are all Class 1 carcinogens, that is, [clear] carcinogenic substances!
Readers who often see Dr. Clove should all say that [talking about toxicity without dose is hooliganism].
In fact, no matter what kind of carcinogen it is, the classification only tells us the level of evidence of carcinogen (clear or possible). The carcinogenic intensity has nothing to do with the classification of this carcinogen, but only with the characteristics of the carcinogen itself and the exposure level (dose) of the carcinogen.
Drinking alcohol a few times, smoking cigarettes a few times and eating ham a few times does not mean that you will suffer from cancer. However, long-term and heavy drinking and smoking will certainly lead to a higher risk of cancer. If you quit smoking and drinking and avoid exposure to carcinogens, you will naturally reduce the risk of cancer.
As for condoms and pacifiers, it has been made clear earlier that as an ordinary person who does not often contact MBT, as long as he chooses qualified products, he really need not worry so much.