New York, April 25 : At a time when e-commerce portals in India are offering sex toys to satiate the sexual desires and fantasies of the middle class, an alarming study reveals that women with potentially cancer-causing human papilloma virus (HPV) may be putting their partners at danger if they share sex toys.

The researchers from Indiana University's school of medicine gave 12 women two vibrators each.

Nine of the participants tested positive for HPV, and the virus was detected on at least one of the two vibrators given to each of them.

"Sex toys used between partners within the same sexual encounter have the potential for transmitting HPV," lead author Teresa Anderson was quoted as saying in media reports.

Even after cleaning, the researchers detected DNA from HPV on five of the thermoplastic vibrators and four of the silicone ones.

"Cleaning the sex toy has the potential to decrease the amount of HPV DNA we can detect and so can potentially decrease the risk of transmission," Anderson added.

Additional studies are needed to see if an infection can be transmitted through sex toys, the researchers added.

Genital HPV is the most common STD and is often called 'common cold' of the sexually active world.(IANS)