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Warning to male mobile phone users: chatting too long may cut sperm
count
ท US study based on 361 attending clinic ท Other scientists call for
further investigations
Ian Sample in New Orleans
Tuesday October 24 2006
The Guardian


Men who use mobile phones for long periods at a time may be at risk of
damaging their sperm, according to research by American scientists.

Samples taken from men attending a fertility clinic revealed that their
sperm declined steadily in number, quality and ability to swim as
mobile phone usage increased. Where men used their mobiles for more than
four hours a day, researchers found a 30% drop in sperm motility or
movement and viability when compared with men who did not use a mobile phone.

Scientists believe the study is too preliminary to prove an unequivocal
link between mobile phones and falling sperm counts, but the work
received a cautious welcome from other scientists who called for further
studies to rule out other factors known to influence sperm quality, such
as age, weight, smoking, stress and whether people had sedentary jobs.

Ashok Agarwal, who presented his findings at the American Society for
Reproductive Medicine conference in New Orleans, stressed the study did
not prove mobile phones were damaging male fertility, but urged
scientists to investigate the possibility.

"There was a significant decrease in the most important measures of
sperm health and that should definitely be reflected in a decrease in
fertility, which is seen worldwide," he said.

"People use mobile phones without thinking twice what the consequences
might be. It is just like using a toothbrush, but mobiles could be
having a devastating effect on fertility. It still has to be proved, but it
could be having a huge impact because mobiles are so much part of our
lives."

Almost 1 billion people use mobile phones around the world and the
number is growing in many countries at 20%-30% annually. In another five
years, the number of mobile phone users is predicted to double.

Dr Agarwal and colleagues at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of
Medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio divided 361 men
attending the centre for infertility tests into four groups, depending on
their mobile phone usage. The groups ranged from none, less than two hours
a day, two to four hours a day and more than four hours a day.

Subsequent tests on the men's sperm showed significant declines in four
standard measures of sperm quality, including count, viability,
motility and shape, with each falling with increased phone usage. Men who used
mobile phones for more than four hours a day were found to have median
sperm counts of 50m per millilitre.

Those using mobiles for two to four hours a day had sperm counts of 59m
per ml, increasing to 69m per ml for less than two hours' usage a day
and 86m per ml for men who did not use mobile phones.

According to the World Health Organisation, a normal sperm count can be
anything between 20m and 200m per ml.

Dr Agarwal said mobile phone radiation may harm sperm by damaging DNA,
disrupting cells that produce testosterone in the testes, or shrinking
the tubules where sperm are created. "It is true that all the men in
the study were seeking infertility treatment, but not all these men have
fertility problems themselves," he said.

Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at Sheffield University,
said: "This is a good quality study, but I don't think it tackles the
issue. If you're using your phone for four hours a day, presumably it is out
of your pocket for longer. That raises a big question: how is it that
testicular damage is supposed to occur?"

"If you are holding it up to your head to speak a lot, it makes no
sense it is having a direct effect on your testes," he said. "Maybe people
who use a phone for four hours a day spend more time sitting in cars,
which could mean there is a heat issue. It could be they are more
stressed, or more sedentary and sit about eating junk food getting fat.

"Those seem to be better explanations than a phone causing the damage
at such a great distance," he added.

Last year, scientists in Hungary claimed that men who carry mobile
phones in their pockets may risk damaging their sperm count after studying
mobile phone usage of 221 men, but no conclusive impact on sperm count
or motility has ever been found by other scientists. Another study last
year at Newcastle University in New South Wales showed that blasting
mice with radiowaves similar to mobile phone radiation 12 hours a day for
a week damaged the DNA in their sperm.

Alasdair Philips, director of the consumer pressure group Powerwatch,
suggested men might want to hold the phone away from them before sending
texts, but added that mobile phones might only affect sperm by causing
heating in the groin area, especially if men were texting from their
laps. "Sperm is very temperature sensitive as shown by many studies, and
a short-term rise in temperature could be responsible," he said.

Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited

I doubt I would impregnate any gal if I 'm talking on the frigging phone anyway.I 'm elgible to talk forever since I don't shoot real bullets anyway