Heavy use of mobile phones may damage sperm

12.09.2011 | By: Jure P

Find out more about the latest research on the influence of mobile phones on sperm count. Should you be worried?

Electromagnetic radiation from your mobile phone may be blamed for your poorer sperm quality. (PhotoXpress)

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The latest research in the USA has shown that men who use their mobile phone several hours a day have poorer quality of their sperm.

The study carried out at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio, which involved 361 men, has revealed a link between the use of mobile phones and the quality of a man’s sperm. Men who often use phones have lower sperm counts and a higher proportion of sperm which is abnormal. The quantity and quality of sperm decline in proportion to increased daily use of phones. Men who stated that they used their phone more than four hours a day had significantly lower sperm counts, including the fertile sperm, than men who used their phones less frequently.

No cause for panic

Professor Ashok Agarwal, director of the research centre, said: “Our results show a strong association of cell phone use with decreased semen quality. However, they do not prove a cause-and-effect relationship... We infer from our results that heavy cell phone use … is associated with a lower semen quality, but whether cell phones somehow directly affect men’s fertility is not clear.” Some studies, for example, have linked long-term cell phone use to a higher risk of brain tumours, though many other studies have found no such connection.

New studies to reveal the truth

Dr. Agarwal added that he and his colleagues have two additional studies underway aiming to shed light on the alarming discovery. In one, they are trying to confirm the findings of the first study on a larger group of men, whereby they also have to take into account other variables, such as lifestyle, habits and exposure to other factors that could affect the quality of a man’s sperm. In the second, sperm samples are exposed to a direct influence of electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones and checked in a laboratory to determine whether or not the results of the sociological study hold true.