Materials, products and services - the Green Guide Online provides details of the life cycle environmental impacts of construction materials and components, and the Green Book is a free online database of products and services.
Spermicides are used globally for birth control, with or without condoms. As the only means of birth control, spermicides are rarely effective. However, in conjunction with condoms, spermicides are somewhat effective in birth control.
Many spermicides currently available in the United States contain nonoxynol-9 (N-9). N-9 is also the spermicide in the Today sponge. Other spermicides and spermicidal microbicides are currently under development. Many are designed to avoid the problems currently being seen with N-9 use . What is Nonoxynol-9 (N-9)? Nonoxynol-9 is basically a type of detergent. It disrupts the plasma membranes (outer barrier) of sperm and other cells.