Los Angeles- from www.calcatholic.com – An advisory committee of the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board has scheduled a meeting next month in Los Angeles to consider whether to recommend tougher regulations governing makers of pornographic movies.

It is fitting the hearing will be held in Los Angeles since the nearby San Fernando Valley has become known as the “porn capital of the world,” where an estimated 80% of all pornographic films made in the U.S. are produced. And it is actors in those films who have complained to state authorities about the risks they take by engaging in sex acts before the camera.

“In response to a petition granted by the standards board, this advisory committee will consider amending Section 5193 regarding bloodborne pathogens to specifically address health hazards in the adult film industry,” says a meeting notice posted on the advisory board’s website.

The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 29, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Cal/Trans Building, 100 S. Main St., in Los Angeles.

On April 15, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation held a press conference to announce it was filing a formal complaint with the California Labor Commissioner “as part of its ongoing campaign to reduce the spread of STDs including HIV among performers working in adult films shot and produced in California.”

The complaint named nine state-licensed “adult-oriented talent agencies who procure performers for adult film productions who the talent agencies advertise as available to participate in unprotected sexual acts that may result in the exchange of bodily fluids,” said a statement by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

“The nine complaints,” said the Foundation, “will be supported with print outs from the websites of each of the talent agencies which graphically describe — often in checklist format — the unprotected sexual acts that the clients they represent will perform in adult films.”

State labor authorities are apparently already aware of the severity of the problem.

“A recent cluster of HIV infections in the adult film industry in Southern California has drawn attention to health hazards in these work places,” says a notice posted on the website of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. “Workers in this industry need to know there are laws written to protect them from injury and illness on the job, and where to go for help if their employer doesn’t follow those laws. Employers in the adult film industry must know how to protect their employees from health and safety hazards and understand the consequences of failing to comply with state regulations.” Existing regulations do not mandate condom use.

“In addition to general health and safety hazards associated with film and video production, workers in the adult film industry face particular hazards because actors perform sex acts in the course of making the films or videos,” says the notice. “Many diseases can be transmitted through blood, semen, vaginal fluid and fecal material, or by mucous membrane contact. One important group of diseases is those caused by bloodborne pathogens, including HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. In addition to actors, employees in this industry at risk of becoming infected include people who clean up after scenes and people who assist in developing scenes, whether or not they are shown on film. If any sharps, such as razor blades or wires, are used (for shaving, piercing, etc.), they pose a particular risk for spreading infection because they can puncture the skin. Other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are not considered bloodborne pathogens, but can be transmitted through contact with mucous membranes, semen, vaginal fluids or feces.”

In 2004, two porn actors in California tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, prompting a scare that shut down the production of porn films for 30 days. Another three porn actors tested positive for HIV during widespread testing of actors by the pornographic film industry during to so-called “AIDS Scare.”

Since then, the state has considered various forms of regulation over the pornographic film industry, including a requirement that actors use condoms during certain kinds of explicit sex scenes. But the porn industry has balked at the condom requirement, saying the use of condoms would result in fewer sales because unprotected sex boosts sales by fulfilling the fantasies of porno film purchasers. Some pornographic film producers have even threatened to move their businesses out of California if a “condom rule” is imposed.

In December 2009, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed a petition with the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board asking that Cal/OSHA “clarify protections for workers in the adult film industry and to explicitly include a condom requirement.” On March 18, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted unanimously to convene an advisory panel to determine whether to amend existing state regulations, which will be the subject of the June 29 meeting.

In its April 15 statement, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation noted, “AHF’s action today was prompted by the ongoing epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in California’s adult film industry. According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH), workers in the adult film industry are ten times more likely to be infected with a sexually transmitted disease than members of the population at large. LADPH documented 2,013 individual cases of Chlamydia and 965 cases of gonorrhea among workers between the years 2003 and 2007. LADPH has observed that many workers suffer multiple infections, with some performers having four or more separate infections over the course of a year. In addition, LADPH has stated that as many as 25 industry-related cases of HIV have been reported since 2004.”