The California-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) hasfiled a petition to amend state regulations to explicitly require condom use inthe Los Angeles adult film industry, which has an ongoing sexually transmittedinfection (STI) epidemic.

AHF’s petition calls on the California Occupational Safetyand Health Standards Board (Cal/OSHA) to clarify protection for adult filmindustry workers and to include a condom requirement to the “bloodbornepathogens” regulations.

“We are taking this action onbehalf of the thousands of workers who are needlessly exposed to [STIs] duringthe production of adult films in California. We look forward to Cal/OSHA’sswift action on this issue,” said Michael Weinstein, AHF’s president.

According to the Los Angeles County Department of PublicHealth (LADPH), transmission of STIs is 10 times more likely to occur amongadult film workers than the general population.

Between 2003 and 2007, LADPH documented 2,013 chlamydia casesand 965 gonorrhea cases among adult film workers. There have been at least 25industry-related HIV cases since 2004.