When Cleveland Clinic researchers placed sperm samples next to cellphones and left them there for a few hours, sperm quality deteriorated.  The experiment was designed to gauge the influence a pocketed cellphone, left in “talk” mode for an extended period of time, such as over the course of a business day, may have on sperm quality and function.  The study’s results lead the research team to suggest finding a safer place than one’s pants pockets to store an active cellphone, especially when future plans include starting a family.

Cellphones emit radio-frequency energy (radio waves) that has been the subject of several studies in recent years, as cellphone use grows in popularity.  One study suggests a link between brain cancer and extended use of a cellphone placed close to the head.  Another study indicates an association between a woman’s cellphone use during pregnancy and behavior issues in her children.

A year ago, the same researchers from the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Male Fertility, a part of the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, reported a substantial lowering of sperm quality when men used hands-free communications devices attached to cellphones in their pants pockets for more than four hours a day although they did not know what, exactly, caused the decline in sperm quality.  Continued research has indicated it’s the radio waves emitted by the cellphone that cause the damage.

The research team used sperm samples from 32 men, divided into a control group and a test group.  The test group samples were left an inch away from an 850 MHz cellphone in the talk mode for one hour.  Examination of the sperm samples after exposure to the cellphones revealed an increase in the levels of damaging free radicals but a decrease in levels of cell-protecting antioxidants, as compared to the samples in the control group.  No significant damage was noted in sperm cell DNA but the increased free radicals, along with the decreased antioxidants, caused loss of both sperm function and motility, as well as a generalized decline in sperm health.

While the study involved sperm samples placed in almost direct contact with the cellphones, in a real-life situation, there would be several layers of clothing and body tissue between the cellphone and the reproductive organs.  Until further studies can be conducted for this effect, however, there is no way of knowing if the tissue and clothing barrier provides enough protection from radio waves to make cellphones safe to use extensively from a phone in a pants pocket, especially for men who expect to father children someday.

Source: LA Times