Consumers : Condom Test Stirs New Controversy

Most major condom brands perform satisfactorily in tests more rigorous than those required by the federal government but failure rates differ sharply among brands, according to a Consumer Reports study to be released today.

The study, which included laboratory tests of 16,000 prophylactics and a reader questionnaire, supported the view that top-rated condoms protect users against AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, as well safeguarding against unwanted pregnancy.

Generic Vulnerability

But the study unintentionally touched off a new scientific debate about the generic vulnerability of latex rubber condoms, which some researchers have suggested might have pores large enough for the viruses of some sexually transmitted diseases to pass through.

And it reaffirmed researchers’ observations that condoms fail at different rates, depending on the type of sexual activity.

AIDS “is one of the major public health problems of the current decade,” said R. David Pittle, technical director of the Consumers Union, which ran the condom tests for Consumer Reports.

“Most of the condoms did quite well in this test,” he said. “Some did better than others. I think it’s important for the public to know that there is a large number of these that give you about as good protection as any.”

The Health Industry Manufacturers Assn. praised much of the Consumers Union study but criticized publication of condom ratings. Norman Estrin, vice president of the trade group, which represents condom manufacturers, also contended that several condoms receiving low ratings in Consumer Reports were identical to higher-rated models.

For example, Estrin said the No. 2 ranked condom, LifeStyles Extra Strength lubricated, was identical to one with a similar name that ranked next to last. Estrin said several condoms marketed under private labels ranked higher than identical brand name products; he declined to name these, citing industry confidentiality agreements.

Air Inflation Test

Consumer Reports tested 40 models of condoms, all but eight of which performed satisfactorily in an air inflation test, which is required in many foreign countries and generally is considered to be stricter than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tests. Consumers Union also used a test in which condoms are filled with water, then evaluated for leakage--the method the FDA uses to judge whether condoms may be sold in the United States.

All the condoms tested by the Consumers Union were made of latex, though lamb membrane condoms are widely sold. But unanswered questions about lambskin condoms, their permeability and the possibility that they permit passage of the AIDS and hepatitis viruses led the group to exclude them from their tests, results of which are to be published as the cover feature in the March Consumer Reports.

In its tests, the Consumers Union reached conclusions that are contradicted by research conducted at UCLA about the porosity of at least two brands of condoms. Consumers Union found that all latex condoms did not have pores that might allow viruses to pass through.

But in federally funded research at UCLA, results of which were obtained by The Times under the Freedom of Information Act, researchers found that the Gold Circle condom, made by Circle Rubber Corp., and the LifeStyles Conture condom, manufactured by Ansell Americas Inc., did have such pores.

Scientists have cautioned that the possible role of porous openings in condoms--either latex or lambskin--in the spread of AIDS, hepatitis or other sexually-transmitted diseases remains strictly a theoretical one.

A UCLA spokesman declined to comment on the new research results obtained by The Times. Federal funding for the UCLA research was cut off by the National Institutes of Health late last year because of concerns for the safety of the project, which proposed to test condoms for effectiveness against AIDS in actual intercourse among gay men in Los Angeles.

Based on a reader survey, the Consumers Union found that condom breakage rates over all were significantly higher in anal sex than in vaginal intercourse. (Anal sex more than vaginal intercourse has been associated with AIDS transmission.) One condom of every 165 breaks during vaginal intercourse, while the ratio is one of 105 in anal sex, the reader survey found.

Test Accuracy Questioned

Consumer Reports declined to recommend that consumers not buy condoms ranked low in its study. Pittle said the group did not issue unequivocal ratings because researchers remain unsure of the extent to which lab tests accurately predict how a condom will perform during sex.

The Consumers Union ratings largely coincided with the still unpublished UCLA rankings of 31 condom brands. The UCLA rankings were obtained by The Times last year.

While the two studies differed in their selected products, the Gold Circle Coin condom, made by Circle Rubber, ranked No. 1 in the Consumer Reports ratings and No. 4 in the UCLA study. (The Gold Circle Coin is different from the Gold Circle condom.) Only 13 condom models were tested by both UCLA and Consumers Union.

The Ramses Non-Lubricated condom, by Schmid Laboratories, was rated No. 4 by the Consumer Reports but No. 2 in the UCLA study.

Big discrepancies were recorded in the two different tests for a heavily promoted product, the Mentor condom, distributed by Mentor Corp. of Goleta. Its advertising boasts Mentor has a significant safety advantage. The Mentor ranked No. 1 on the UCLA test. But it recorded a failure rate more than triple the acceptable level in the Consumers Union tests.

Consumer Reports suggested its readers choose products from the top of its 32 ranked condom models meeting its minimum safety requirement, which permits up to 1.5% of condoms in a given batch to break when filled with 15 liters of air--enough to inflate a medium-sized balloon.

The Mentor condom and six other models fell into a second category in which tested products failed as much as 4% of the time. Two other condoms, the LifeStyles Extra Strength with Nonoxynol-9 (a spermicide coating), and the LifeStyles Nuda Plus, recorded failure rates of more than 10%.

Officials of Mentor Corp. declined to comment on the Consumer Reports article, which they had not seen.

Ansell, in a statement late Wednesday, charged that “Consumer Reports does not understand condoms.” Noting that the magazine published a condom survey a decade ago, Ansell said the magazine “got the story wrong again.” Ansell claimed the Consumer Union relied on flawed statistical methods and incorrect testing procedures. It noted the consumer group included an Ansell product, the LifeStyles Extra Strength with nonoxynol-9, that had been recalled six months previously.