For a guy, as long as you aren't going to be using anything latex/rubber and you don't mind the cleanup Vaseline can be OK from a health standpoint. It's refined enough to not have any hazardous chemicals in it. It'll stay around until it gets pushed out, but shouldn't cause any problems. Your clothes/sheets might not be as happy.

I don't use it. I find that it doesn't work very well as a sex lube - too much "grab". OTOH I don't like pure coconut oil for anal use either - it warms up, melts, and runs away.

If you want to try an oil based lube, Boy Butter has a nice consistency and isn't too hard to clean up. Unfortunately it burns a bit on me, so I never gave it a very long trial. Not sure why it burned - the materials list seems pretty safe, but I'm sensitive. less

That's the key isn't it; when Petrolatum/Vaseline is refined enough it can be OK.
My concerns are when we compare the production of Petrolatum/Vaseline to Virgin Coconut Oil.

Petrolatum/Vaseline

Petrolatum has the following definition.

A complex combination of hydrocarbons obtained as a semi-solid from dewaxing paraffinic residual oil. It consists predominantly of saturated crystalline and liquid hydrocarbons having carbon numbers predominately greater than C25.

The components for petrolatum come from paraffinic lube oil refineries. Petrolatum can be considered as a combination of mineral oil and petroleum wax. The separation of wax components from oil involves solvent dewaxing and the filtration of the wax from a solvent-oil slurry at low temperatures.

The purification process for making petrolatum usually involves hydrogenation and/or adsorption. The hydrogenation reaction is carried out on a catalyst at high temperature and pressure. This process saturates many of the aromatic compounds and removes polar hydrocarbons such as those containing sulfur, nitrogen or oxygen. The adsorption process is
accomplished by percolating the melted liquid petrolatum over an absorbent such as clay or bauxite. The product off the absorption step is lower in aromatic content, and lower in polar hydrocarbon content. As with hydrogenation, the resulting petrolatum is much lighter in color
than the starting material. Most importantly, petrolatum derived from these processes passes the FDA purity test that limits the PAHs or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon content.

Virgin Coconut Oil

Virgin Coconut Oil can only be achieved by using fresh coconut meat or what is called non-copra. Chemicals and high heating are not used in further refining, since the natural, pure coconut oil is very stable with a shelf life of several years. There are currently two main processes of manufacturing Virgin Coconut Oil:

1. Quick drying of fresh coconut meat which is then used to press out the oil. Using this method, minimal heat is used to quick dry the coconut meat, and the oil is then pressed out via mechanical means.

2. Wet-milling. With this method the oil is extracted from fresh coconut meat without drying first. "Coconut milk" is expressed first by pressing. The oil is then further separated from the water. Methods which can be used to separate the oil from the water include boiling, fermentation, refrigeration, and mechanical centrifuge.

In the fermentation process (most common), the coconut milk expressed from the freshly harvested coconuts is fermented for 24-36 hours. During this time, the water separates from the oil. The oil is then slightly heated for a short time to remove moisture, and filtered.

After examining the processes by which these lubes are derived plus the numerous healthy benefits of coconut oil why would anyone want to use Petrolatum/Vaseline?

Be Kind to Your Behind less