Many have voiced concern about the effects that electromagnetic radiation, emitted by cell phones, may have on cell phone users. A substantial amount of research has been devoted to studying these effects, which appear to quite real (e.g., it is now recommended that cell phone use be limited for children). Some of those studies have examined the effects of cell phone use on sperm. It appears that cell phone use has an adverse effect on sperm:
Gutschi, T., Mohamad Al-Ali, B., Shamloul, R., Pummer, K. and Trummer, H. (2011), Impact of cell phone use on men’s semen parameters. Andrologia, 43(5), 312–316.
The objective of the present retrospective study was to report our experience concerning the effects of cell phone usage on semen parameters. We examined 2110 men attending our infertility clinic from 1993 to October 2007. Semen analysis was performed in all patients. Serum free testosterone (T), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinising hormone (LH) and prolactin (PRL) were collected from all patients. The information on cell phone use of the patients was recorded and the subjects were divided into two groups according to their cell phone use: group A: cell phone use (n = 991); group B: no use (n = 1119). Significant difference was observed in sperm morphology between the two groups. In the patients of group A, 68.0% of the spermatozoa featured a pathological morphology compared to only 58.1% in the subjects of group B. Patients with cell phone usage showed significantly higher T and lower LH levels than those who did not use cell phone. No significant difference between the two groups was observed regarding FSH and PRL values. Our results showed that cell phone use negatively affects sperm quality in men. Further studies with a careful design are needed to determine the effect of cell phone use on male fertility.
La Vignera, S., Condorelli,R., Vicari, E., D'Agata, R., and Calogero, A. (2011). Effects of the exposure to mobile phones on male reproduction: A review of the literature. Journal of Andrology, DOI:10.2164/jandrol.111.014373.
The use of mobile phones is now widespread. A great debate is going on about the possible damage that the radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation (RF-EMR) emitted by mobile phones exerts on different organs and apparatuses. Aim of this article was to review the existing literature exploring the effects of RF-EMR on the male reproductive function in experimental animals and human beings. Studies on the experimental animals have been conducted in rats, mice, and rabbits using a similar design based upon mobile phone radiofrequency exposure for a variable length of time. Altogether the results of these studies show that RF-EMR decreases sperm count and motility, and increases the oxidative stress. In human beings, two different experimental approaches have been followed, one has explored the effects of RF-EMR directly on spermatozoa and the other has evaluated the sperm parameters in men using or not mobile phones. The results show that human spermatozoa exposed to RF-EMR have decreased motility, morphometric abnormalities, and increased oxidative stress, whereas men using mobile phones have decreased sperm concentration, motility (particularly the rapid progressive one), normal morphology, and viability. These abnormalities seem to be directly related with the length of mobile phone use.