Frequent mobile phone use may affect sperm count, study finds

A new study has found that men who use their cell phones more than 20 times a day have a 21% lower sperm concentration than those who use their phones less than once a day.

The study, published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, found that men who regularly use their cell phone — to make calls, check email or any activity that requires a mobile connection — have over a 20% lower concentration of sperm than those who do not.

The researchers however found that where men kept their phones did not affect sperm count.

What drives the story?

Research has repeatedly shown that semen quality has decreased over the last 50 years, which experts have attributed to a combination of environmental and lifestyle changes — yet the role of mobile phones has yet to be determined.

Fertility is measured in the number of sperm per millilitre of semen. Someone hoping to have a child should have a sperm concentration of at least 15 million sperm per milliliter of semen, and the chances of impregnation drop if one’s sperm concentration is below 40 million per milliliter, according to the research.

What the new study says

To examine this concern, researchers from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, collaborated with the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute to collect data and semen samples from 2,886 men aged 18 to 22.

The volunteers submitted a questionnaire about their mobile phone use and where they place it when not in hand. Those who picked up their device more than 20 times a day were found to have a 21% lower concentration of sperm compared to those who did not use their phone more than once a week.

Study authors noted that the relationship between cell phone use and sperm characteristics was more pronounced during the first survey, between 2005 and 2007, and has gradually decreased in later research periods, until their reporting ended in 2018.

Where men kept their phones did not affect sperm count, the research showed. This means having a phone in one’s pocket should not harm one’s fertility.

“Previous studies evaluating the relationship between the use of mobile phones and semen quality were performed on a relatively small number of individuals, rarely considering lifestyle information, and have been subject to selection bias, as they were recruited in fertility clinics. This has led to inconclusive results,” said Rita Rahban, a senior researcher at University of Geneva’s Department of Genetic Medicine who led the study.

The researchers called for more work to be done to better understand this connection.

The researchers called for renewed research into the relationship male fertility and cell phone.

“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,’’ Rahban said.