In September 2021, the International Organisation for Standardisation (or ISO) published its first design and safety requirements for sex toys after a two-year project.

The ISO project was kicked off by, today’s guest, Swedish surgeon Dr Martin Dahlberg.

Martin has performed several hundred surgical procedures throughout his career. In 2019 he realised he was increasingly performing operations to remove sex toys lodged in people’s rectums. 

While people getting a wild plethora of things stuck in their butts has objective comical value, a rise in the issue raises interesting questions around education and regulation that ensures people’s safety.

 Two years later, the standards have been released. However, what effect do these standards have? Do sex toy companies even take the standards seriously? Martin and Caroline discuss all this and more