Los Angeles County officials Tuesday rebuffed demands from an AIDS activist group that the county’s public health officials take immediate action to require performers in porn films to wear condoms.

An earlier version of this post carried the headline “L.A. County can't require condoms for porn actors, officials say.” As the post notes, county health officials said it would be difficult or costly to carry out such a policy. The headline has been updated to reflect that.

County officials said the California Legislature would need to approve legislation that would require condom use for pornography shoots. They said it would be difficult to try to regulate the porn industry through the county's Public Health Department.

"It is very, very difficult to implement. There are roughly 200 production companies with about...1,200 actors,” said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, the county's public health chief. “All you need is a room and a camera and a bed, basically, to do this kind of shoot, and we have no ability to police this.”

Fielding said that it would be difficult for public health officials to prove if the movies were produced in L.A. County or elsewhere, as producers often do not apply for filming licenses. In a memo to supervisors on Sept. 17, health officials warned such an effort would be costly, as the public health department would need to identify filming sites and monitor compliance, which would require significant staff time.