Condoms: Is there a eco-alternative?

Since my last post felt...let's call it "heavy," I thought that I would share an experiment that Dr. Getman of the Chemistry Department here at Northern Michigan University showed my CH 112 class.  He began the lecture with, "Let's say you and I met at a bar and I'm a condom salesman, not your professor.  So I'm taking off my Professor cap and putting on my Condom Salesman cap."

The experiment was two condoms that were filled and tied with 1.5 grams (g) of Ca(CH3CO2)2 and are placed in 100 milliliters (ml) of H2O . One condom is latex, while the other is natural condom made of lamb skin. After letting the condoms stand for 24 hrs, the natural condom is firm & bouncy (please envision a 60ish year old man bouncing this condom on the table in front of an entire class of approximately 200 students); while the latex is soft or "limp" as Dr. Getman adequately described.

Now one must be advised that latex is completely impermeable and the natural condom will be permeable to H2O.  This is differentiation is due to the material used for the condom product itself. The osmotic pressure is what's making the natural condom firm and bouncy because it’s drawing in H2O from the external solution.

Now the purpose of this experiment is to determine if: the natural condom prevent STDs and/or pregnancy?

The H2O solutions that the condoms were submerged in were subjected to a chemical test (I have forgotten this chemical's name, sorry for my lapse in memory).  The chemical (if Ca(CH3CO2)2 was present) would turn the solution white.  The latex condom's solution had no reaction.  The natural condom's solution had a cloud of white flourish as soon as the chemical was applied.

This means that the natural condom will not protect against STDs because virus sizes are approximately 30-700 A in size. Numerous viruses can permeate membranes, and lamb skin is a membrane (just in case someone forgot). Viruses can also simply leak through the pores within the lamb skin.

The condom will protect against pregnancy because sperm is too large to fit through the pores of the lamb skin and does not have the ability to permeate membranes.

Bottom line…use latex if you are unsure of your partner’s (shall we say) health. But if your both healthy and nature lovers go for the natural condom that is unless you're a vegan then latex all the way. Remember safe sex, very important.

This is why I love being a science major because my profs pretend to be condom salesmen in lecture.