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<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id
=412179&in_page_id=1770>Cell 
phones linked to infertility
Men who use cell phones regularly show increased 
risk of infertility. Electromagnetic radiation or 
heat is thought to be the problem. But some say 
the use of cell phones may just be a marker for 
another cause. Either way, it is alarming news.
Men who use mobile phones face increased risk of infertility
by JENNY HOPE
Last updated at 21:01pm on 23rd October 2006
Men who use mobile phones could be risking their fertility, warn
researchers.
A new study shows a worrying link between poor 
sperm and the number of hours a day
that a man uses his mobile phone.
Those who made calls on a mobile phone for more 
than four hours a day had the worst
sperm counts and the poorest quality sperm, 
according to results released yest at
the American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting in New
Orleans.
Doctors believe the damage could be caused by the 
electromagnetic radiation emitted
by handsets or the heat they generate.
The findings suggest millions of men may 
encounter difficulties in fathering a child
due to the widespread use of mobile phones and 
offers another possible explanation
for plummeting fertility levels among British males.
Sperm counts among British men have fallen by 29 
per cent over the past decade, a
drop which has also been blamed on increasing 
obesity, smoking, stress, pollution
and 'gender-bending' chemicals which disrupt the hormone system.
The latest study backs up previous research which 
indicated a link between mobile
phone use and sperm quality, but it is the biggest and best designed to
date.
US researchers in Cleveland and New Orleans, and 
doctors in Mumbai, India, looked
at more than 360 men undergoing checks at a 
fertility clinic who were classified
into three groups according to their sperm count.
Men who used a mobile for more than four hours a 
day had a 25 per cent lower sperm
count than men who never used a mobile.
The men with highest usage also had greater 
problems with sperm quality, with the
swimming ability of sperm - a crucial factor in conception - down by a
third.
They had a 50 per cent drop in the number of 
properly formed sperm, with just one-fifth
looking normal under a microscope.
Professor Ashok Agarwal, director of the 
Reproductive Research Centre at the Cleveland
Clinic, Ohio, who led the study, said "Almost a 
billion people are using cell phones
around the world and the number is growing in 
many countries at 20 to 30 per cent
a year.
"In another five years the number is going to 
double. People use mobile phones without
thinking twice what the consequences may be.
"It is just like using a toothbrush but mobiles 
could be having a devastating effect
on fertility. It still has to be proved but it 
could have a huge impact because mobiles
are so much part of our lives."
Altogether 361 men in the study were divided into 
four groups, with 40 never using
a mobile, 107 men using them for less than two 
hours a day, 100 men using them for
two-four hours daily and 114 making calls for four or more hours a day.
The main finding was that on four measures of 
sperm potency - count, motility, viability
and morphology, or appearance - there were 
significant differences between the groups.
The greater the use of mobile phones, the greater 
the reduction in each measure.
Prof Agarwal said "This was very clear and very 
significant. Many in the lowest group
for sperm count would be below normal as defined 
by the World Health Organisation."
The WHO says a normal sperm count is above 20 
million per millilitre of seminal fluid.
"There was a significant decrease in the most 
important measures of sperm health
with cell phone use and that should definitely be 
reflected in a decrease in fertility"
he said.
Motility measures the swimming ability of sperm, 
viability measures whether non-swimming
sperm are still alive while morphology is the appearance compared to the
norm.
Although the men were seeking fertility treatment 
at a clinic in Mumbai, not all
would have had a problem - it could be their partners, he added.
Prof Agarwal said the most likely mechanism was 
damage to sperm-making cells in the
testes caused by electromagnetic radiation or 
heat, although a fall in hormone production
could also affect sperm motility and sperm DNA.
He said: "These cells in the testes have been 
shown to be susceptible to electromagnetic
waves in previous research in animals.
"Somehow electromagnetic waves may be causing 
direct damage to these cells and that
perhaps causes a decrease in sperm production."
Mobiles may also increase temperature in the 
groin, if a man was wearing it on a
belt or carrying it around in a pocket.
Prof Agarwal said it was too early to advise men 
trying to start a family about whether
they should limit their mobile phone use. He said 
"We still have a long way to go
to prove this but we have just had another study approved."
More than 40 million people in Britain are 
thought to use mobile phones. Alasdair
Philips, director of the consumer pressure group 
Powerwatch said "It's a plausible
link between the amount of time spent using a 
mobile phone and a possible effect
on male fertility.
"The eyes, breasts and testicles are the areas of 
the body most likely to absorb
the energy and many men carry their mobiles attached to their belt."
Sending text messages uses less power than 
talking but it can be a more intense emission
of radiation, especially on trains, he said.
"I've seen men on trains spending two or three 
hours continually texting with their
mobile phones held in their laps, and they press 
Send in the same position when it
starts to seek a signal.
"This needs a considerable amount of power within 
what is effectively a metal box.
We advise people to send a text with their arm 
outstretched next to the window when
travelling on a train" he added.
He said local heating of the groin triggered by a 
mobile phone might also be involved
in affecting sperm quality.
"Sperm is very temperature sensitive as shown by 
many studies, and a short-term rise
in temperature could be responsible" he added.
However, Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in 
andrology at the University of Sheffield,
said "This is a good quality study but I don't think it tackles the issue.
"If you're using your phone for four hours a day, 
presumably it is out of your pocket
for longer. That raises a big question: how is it 
that testicular damage is supposed
to occur?"
He said mobile phone use may be a marker for 
other lifestyle factors known to affect
sperm quality.
"Maybe people who use a phone for four hours a 
day spend more time sitting in cars,
which could mean there's a heat issue. It could 
be they are more stressed, or more
sedentary and sit about eating junk food getting 
fat. Those seem to be better explanations
than a phone causing the damage at such a great distance" he added.
C2006 Associated Newspapers Ltd


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