German Consumer Group Tests Sex Toys for ‘Pollutants’

BIELEFELD, Germany—German consumer organization and foundation Stiftung Warentest has published the results of its first-ever Stiftung Warentest of sex toys in its test magazine. Founded in 1964 by the German federal parliament in order to help consumers by providing impartial and objective information based on the results of comparative investigations of goods and services, Stiftung Warentest released its results for sex toys in the February issue. The study examined the “pollutant load” of sex toys, and found more expensive sex toys do not necessarily translate to fewer pollutants. The pollutants the magazine tested for include plasticizers, nickel and phenol. “Stiftung Warentest has tested sex toys for the first time: We sent a total of 18 vibrators, love balls and cock rings to the lab and examined them for harmful substances,” the magazine wrote. “Among them are the Womanizer, the Satisfyer and a pair vibrator by We-Vibe. We found clean, but also five heavily polluted sextoys, among them by no means cheap goods (prices: 6.80 to 165 euros). Four times there was the grade Very good, five times was the verdict: Poor.”  Among toys placing high in the test was the Satisfyer Pro 2 Next Generation. “The test result makes the Satisfyer team proud and truly satisfied,” said Nadine Schwalbe, senior brand and sales manager. “Sex toys obviously have a lot of contact with mucous membranes. This makes it all the more important to us that our Satisfyer is clean, and that the pleasure of our customers does not suffer from any harmful substances. The customer is for us the first priority, and with our Satisfyer Pro 2 Next Generation one gets clean, pollution-free fun at a fair price.” For more information on the Stiftung Warentest sex toys tests, visit test.de.