Mobile phone risk to a man’s fertility

MEN who carry their mobile phone in a trouser pocket or talk on it for just an hour a day risk suffering from infertility thanks to a low sperm count, scientists warn.

Research shows that a man’s sperm count can even be reduced by talking on a phone that is charging, or keeping it close by on a bedside table at night.

Heat and electromagnetic activity which emanate from a mobile phone are thought to be ‘cook’ sperm, causing them to die.

The quality of sperm among men in Western countries is constantly decreasing, and is considered as the factor in 40 per cent of the cases in which couples have difficulty conceiving.

The findings have led to a leading British fertility expert to warn men about the risks of being addicted to mobile phones.

For the study, Israeli scientists monitored 106 men attending a fertility clinic for a year. The results showed that those who chatted on the phone for more than an hour daily were twice as likely to have low sperm quality as those who spoke for less than an hour.

Men who used the phone as it charged were almost twice as likely to suffer problems, the results revealed.

The findings, published in the journal Reproductive Bio-Medicine, also found that 47 per cent of men who kept their phones within 50cm (20in) of their groin had sperm levels that were seriously affected, compared with just 11 per cent of the general population.

The study supports a long-feared link between dropping fertility rates in men and the prevalent use of mobile phones.

Professor Martha Dirnfeld, of the Technion University in Haifa, Israel, which carried out the study, said: ‘ We analysed the amount of active swimming sperm and the quality and found that it had been reduced.

‘The levels were down to a number that would make conception difficult.

‘ If you are trying for a baby and it doesn’t happen within a year you might want to think of whether it could be your mobile phone habit that is to blame.’

Professor Gedis Grudzinskas, a fertility consultant at St George’s Hospital, London, said: ‘ Men need to think about their well-being and try to stop being addicted to their phones.

‘If you wear a suit to work put the mobile in your chest pocket instead of close to your testes. Some men keep their mobile in their shorts or pyjamas in bed. Is that really necessary?’

The study concludes that men planning to conceive should ‘from a practical point of view’ turn off their devices while charging or keep it at least 50cm (20in) from the groin.