Researchers discover how condoms break

ERJ staff report (DS)

Cambridge, UK -- A group of workers at the SSL research centre in Cambridge have discovered how and why condoms sometimes break during use.

The company examined almost 1000 condoms which had been returned and built a "a laboratory coital model" to simulate failure modes.

The company said, "Blunt puncture appears to be the mechanism of breakage responsible for more than 90% of condom breakage not attributable to misuse. Knowledge of the main mechanism of breakage should help develop better user instructions, better test methods and, ultimately, better condoms"

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Academic paper describing research

Ars technica site summarising story