Men told ‘keep your phone in a bag’ as alarming new study raises new health fears
MOBILE phones could be linked to a lower sperm count, a study suggests.
Men who used their phone more than 20 times a day had a fifth less sperm than those who used it less than once a week, Swiss researchers found.
They believe the changes may be caused by microwaves released by the devices.
But they said more research is still needed to see if phones are directly behind any problems with sperm production.
Professor Serge Nef, of the University of Geneva, said: “Do the microwaves emitted by mobile phones have a direct or indirect effect?
“Do they cause a significant increase in temperature in the testes? Do they affect the hormonal regulation of sperm production? This all remains to be discovered.”
Sperm counts have fallen by around 50 per cent across the globe over the last 50 years, according to research.
Experts are not sure what is driving the change but believe obesity, exposure to certain plastics and poor exercise and diet could be factors.
Previous studies looking at the impacts of mobile phones on sperm quality have usually only involved small numbers of people.
The latest study, published in Fertility & Sterility, looked at data from 2,886 men aged 18 to 22 that were recruited from 2005 to 2018 at military conscription centres.
Professor Nef said: “Men completed a detailed questionnaire related to their lifestyle habits, their general health status and the frequency at which they used their phones.
“They were also asked where they placed it when not in use.”
Results showed using phones more often was linked with lower sperm counts, but not sperm motility — the ability of the individual sperm to move.
The gap was bigger when looking at 2G to 3G phones, compared to 3G to 4G phones, suggesting modern phones may be less harmful, they said.
Where men put their phones had no effect on their sperm production, researchers found.
Independent experts warned there were limits to the study and the phones may not be the cause of the problem.
Professor Allan Pacey, of the University of Manchester, said: “The study only shows an association between mobile phone use and semen quality.
“We cannot be sure that the mobile phone is not a surrogate marker for another aspect of the men’s lifestyle or occupation that is the real cause of any changes to their sperm quality.”
Professor Malcolm Sperrin, of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine, said: “The use of a questionnaire to determine phone use is likely to be associated with large error bars.”