Toxic Lubricants

I just saw a video, that warned people to avoid using petroleum jelly, because it can cause cancer and other serious health issues. Imagine all of the millions of people who have had their temperature taken, with Vaseline on the thermometer!

I’ve used Vaseline for 66 years and I’ve never had a doctor that’s done a rectal exam or other type of rectal procedures on me ever tell me that I had any indication of cancer so I don’t know what they’re talking about.

Petroleum jelly is about the most inert substance I can imagine. The latest approach to wound care dermatologists have been recommending for years to prevent scar formation is covering the wound with Vaseline.

My wife and I once tried Vicks Vapo Rub as a lubricant. We thought the cool "menthol" feeling might be fun to experience on the privates. While, technically, Vicks Vapo Rub is not toxic, it was not something I would ever recommend, nor would I every repeat using it.

I’ve used Vaseline for 66 years and I’ve never had a doctor that’s done a rectal exam or other type of rectal procedures on me ever tell me that I had any indication of cancer so I don’t know what they’re talking about.

It's generally not recommended to make important decisions based on what could be luck and definitely is anecdotal. Plenty of people try and pull the "I've smoked for X years and haven't died of it yet" bit...

While I wouldn't advise pulling out the axle grease or many other petroleum products for sex play, USP (or BP) petrolatum is highly refined and has not been shown to have a statistically significant increase in cancers. See https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/petroleum-jelly. Note the footnotes, my guess is the video didn't do that. The "let's make you panic" websites also are a little weasely, one notes that "when contaminated with PAH" (yeah, it's not good when contaminated with arsenic either, gonna write a page on that too?) or "often not fully refined" (no duh, there's an industrial grade that definitely ain't USP).

My wife and I once tried Vicks Vapo Rub as a lubricant. We thought the cool "menthol" feeling might be fun to experience on the privates. While, technically, Vicks Vapo Rub is not toxic, it was not something I would ever recommend, nor would I every repeat using it.

The iffy part of VapoRub on mucous membranes is the camphor. I'm not totally convinced of the absolute safety, but I think for the amounts most people will use it probably isn't too bad (i.e. not likely to make a statistical difference). There isn't enough menthol to be toxic unless you use a s--t ton.

California will begin requiring warning labels on Vaseline.

Maybe if the petroleum jelly was refined from radioactive crude from some obscure Russian shithole…..I wouldn’t put it past them. Otherwise petrolatum is as inert as cocoa butter and completely harmless. Still though, my wife has recently started using coconut oil for inserting anything rectally, thermometers and when giving enemas. It works really good.