Planned Parenthood and Nonoxynol-9

Records show that as far back as 1850 B.C.E., women attempted to control their fertility by concocting spermicides (London, 1992). Nonoxynol-9, an FDA-approved spermicide, has been available to women to prevent pregnancy since the 1950s. Today, nonoxynol-9 is the active ingredient in all spermicides in the U.S. Spurred by the AIDS epidemic and by the discovery in the 1980s that nonoxynol-9 can inactivate HIV (the virus that can cause AIDS) in a test tube, researchers have sought to determine whether nonoxynol-9 could also be used as a means of preventing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (Richardson, 2002). Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued recommendations advising against nonoxynol-9 for reducing the risk of infection. This fact sheet reviews the research about the safety, efficacy, and recommended usage of nonoxynol-9.

See the US organisation Planned Parenthood for more.

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Last update: Monday, March 17, 2003 at 10:34:51 AM.