Cell phone use can lead to low sperm count says study

Any male cell phone users trying to conceive a child with your Significant Other? You might have better luck if you stay away from your cell phone during the period when you are trying to conceive, considering that a report in the Journal of Andrology says that using a cell phone can decrease the quality and quantity of a man's sperm.

The report, titled "Cellular phone and male infertility" discussed how an experiment used rats in special plexiglass cases with cell phones placed just .2 inches below the bottom of the cage. After the rats were exposed to the emissions of a cell phone 6 hours a day for more than 4 months, the rats sperm count dropped by 25%. At the same time, the sperm tended to stick together, reducing the possibility of  fertilizing an egg.

Further study needs to be done, says Dr. Joel Moskowitz. The Doctor is the director of the Center for Family and Community Health in the School of Public Health at the University of California at Berkeley; he says that more research is necessary to see if certain phones or networks have less of an effect on the male reproductive system than others do. For example, no one knows if either GSM or CDMA models produce the most damage.

How do cell phones affect sperm? One theory is that when handsets are kept in a male's front pocket,. the phone warms up and affects the sperm's temperature in the scrotum. Sperm normally must be in a climate about 4 degrees lower than regular body temperature. Others say that the phone's RF-EMR penetrates a male's tissue and interferes with the body's own electromagnetic frequency, creating abnormal sperm, which is somewhat confirmed by the study with the rats.

Dr. Moskowitz warns that "Children, adolescents, young adults and especially pregnant women should take precaution and avoid keeping the cell phone close to their reproductive organs, in addition to their heads. These are the parts of the body that are highly sensitive to radiation. This is a wake-up call for those who tend to leave cell phones in theor front pocket."

The lobbying arm for the wireless industry responded. John Walls, the CTIA's VP for public affairs responded in an email to CNET in which he wrote that a number of agencies have looked into cell phone radiation and have found cell phones to not be a public health risk. Still, for those men whose sperm is damaged by cell phone use regardless of how it happened, and who put the "i" in iPhone, staying clear of their cell phone while trying to make a baby could raise the odds of success.

source: JournalofAndrology via CNET