A condom conundrum
According to the Chinese press, hair ties at the markets in Dongguan are going for a song—about three cents for a bag of ten. But these bands aren’t made out of rubber; they’re recycled condoms.
The practice of recycling condoms as hair-ware is admittedly disgusting, but does it pose public health hazard? At least one person, a dermatologist at the Guangzhou Hospital of Armed Police, identified only as “Dong” seems to think so. “People could be infected with AIDS, warts or other diseases if they hold the rubber bands or strings in their mouths while weaving their hair into plaits or buns,” Dong said.
Dong may or may not be a real person. I had no luck finding the Guangzhou Hospital of Armed Police on the internet. But his misconceptions about HIV are not unique. Even in the US, some people still believe that you can “catch” AIDS by kissing or sharing a soda with an individual who has HIV.
Even my boyfriend, a science writer, was suspicious. He (mis)remembered reading that health officials had actually tested the condoms and found them teeming with harmful pathogens.
By now the story (urban legend?) has wound its way through the blogosphere and wormed its way into several reputable news sources. Repetition without critique, I’m afraid, can only lend Dong’s comments credibility.
Another setback for the fight against HIV ignorance.
Posted on behalf of Cassandra Willyard, Nature Medicine's news intern.
Comments
OK! HIV would not be transfered by holding a condom in your mouth! but Genital warts could.
But you know, you can not blame them. I am just fascinated by the popularity of this recycling concept. I mean many people should do it regularly so that the sellers would have enough condoms to recycle them and...
Posted by: Ali | November 22, 2007 04:27 AM
There is long way to go for HIV education, especially in the countries like China. As I know there are many HIV/AIDS patient in China, but I never see a Chinese in the famous HIV/AIDS personal site pozgroup.com.
Ignorance for HIV can help HIV virus to spread faster, and prevent more volunteers to work for HIV.
Posted by: Amy | November 20, 2007 03:09 AM
Apoorva makes a good point about the difficulty of fact-checking something like this, but I'd be suspicious purely on economic grounds. Considering how cheap plastics and latex are as commodities, and how little material is in a condom (they're strong, but very thin), it's hard to believe there's any profit in recycling such a thing.
And just so I can be the first one to impersonate Beavis on this blog: "Dong." Heh-heh.
Posted by: Alan Dove | November 19, 2007 02:20 PM
That is horrendously disgusting! All safety issues aside, I wouldn't ever want anything near me - especially my hair - that had ever been near people's genitals. Nevermind the use...
Posted by: MG | November 16, 2007 10:17 PM
I agree the comment about HIV is sadly misinformed. But can we be sure that there aren't other pathogens that may live to infect someone?
I also wouldn't assume that the Guangzhou Hospital of Armed Police is fictitious simple because it doesn't have a life on the internet. There are many reputable institutions in far-flung places that have yet to be mentioned on the net.
Posted by: apoorva | November 16, 2007 03:06 PM