Get a load of this clip from the Washington Times. It says the latex used in condoms contains pores through which HIV, the AIDS virus, can readily pass–suggesting that “safe sex” using a condom may not be very safe. What gives? Answer quickly. Lives are in the balance! –M.L., Chicago
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
I’ll say. Your clip is a 1992 letter to the editor from Mike Roland, editor of Rubber Chemistry and Technology, a publication of the American Chemical Society. Roland argued that “the rubber comprising latex condoms has intrinsic voids [pores] about 5 microns (0.00002 inches) in size. Since this is roughly 10 times smaller than sperm, the latter are effectively blocked. . . . Contrarily, the AIDS virus is only 0.1 micron (4 millionths of an inch) in size. Since this is a factor of 50 smaller than the voids inherent in rubber, the virus can readily pass through.”
The government’s counterargument to this is that Weller didn’t distinguish between consistent and inconsistent users of condoms. Government spokesmen cite two European studies of “serodiscordant” heterosexual couples–that is, one partner had HIV, the other didn’t. One study found that among couples using condoms consistently there were zero cases of HIV transmission between the partners. Inconsistent users had a 10 percent infection rate. The other study found an infection rate of 1.1 percent between consistent users, 5.7 percent between nonusers. In other words, consistent use of condoms reduced HIV transmission risk by a factor of five, conservatively speaking.
Mainly. But what I want to find out is whether the snow at Saint Lo improves the Bordeaux, the hail at Yale’s on the Richter scale, and the sleet in Crete completely eats. You find out, you let me know.
