As if the word Spermicide didn’t take long enough to get your tongue around, there’s one more of those medical terms that needs to be committed to memory. Nonoxynol-9 – is one of those terms that that is written in the small print on a whole range of contraceptive products that come with a whole list of warnings that aren’t as clear as they need to be.
Nonoxynol-9 is a spermicide which comes in the form of jelly, cream, gel, foam, film and suppositories. It is the most common form of spermicide provided with spermicide-coated condoms today.
Nonoxynol-9 (or N-9) was originally believed to provide protection against various STD’s, in other words, it was promoted as a type of microbicide as well as a spermicide. Like a condom, it was thought to simultaneously protect against pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, but with the obvious advantage of being less intrusive than a condom.
In 2001, a study was released which turned this wonder substance on its head. Since then N-9 has been acknowledged as a spermicide with no additional protection against STIs. Tests that were run in the years that followed its approval by the FDA and its appearance as a new spermicide, showed that not only was N-9 not effective against these sexually transmitted microbes, but it seemed to increase the risk of contracting STDs, including HIV.
How did this mistake occur? After initial tests indicated that N-9 had a microbicidal (microbe killing) effect in test tubes, it was believed that this would act as an anti-STI (sexually transmitted infection) agent. As the first “microbicide” to hit the market, there was great interest in increasing its use in as many formats as possible. A microbicides is, after all, a way for a woman to protect herself from STD’s without the active agreement of her partner.
Tests showed that women who used N-9 had more vaginal tears or lesions, which are thought to be the reason that they are more vulnerable to infections of all kinds. They are also more susceptible to urinary tract infections. Other side effects of N-9 include irritation and inflammation in some women.
Nonoxynol-9 can still be used as a form of birth control, along with condoms, sponges, diaphragms or other barrier methods but this is only recommended when the risk of HIV and other STDs is low.
Women who have bad reactions to condoms may in fact be reacting to the spermicide and not to the latex. Latex condoms, when used correctly, have a very high level of effectiveness.
The failure of N-9 to prevent diseases spread by bacteria or viruses should not be allowed to affect the efforts to produce microbicides that will be able to kill such microbes and therefore present a realistic alternative to the condom.
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