According to a study released yesterday at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine's annoual meeting in New Orleans (glad they are hosting conventions again), men who make calls on a mobile phone for mroe than four hours a day have lower sperm counts and poorer quality sperm than those men who do not yack on their cell for that long.The study was led by Professor Ashok Agarwal, director of the Reproductive Research Centre at the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio. For you guys who might be affected, Prof. Agarwal's interpretation of these results aren't going to be all that pleasant to read.
Prof Agarwal noted the most likely mechanism was damage to sperm-making cells in the testes caused by electromagnetic radiation or heat.
He said: "These cells in the testes have been shown to be susceptible to electromagnetic waves in previous research in animals," he said. "Somehow electromagnetic waves may be causing direct damage to these cells and that perhaps causes a decrease in sperm production."
But what if you carry your BlackBerry in a holster, and don't actually talk on it four hours a day?
Prof. Agarwal pointed out to the London Daily Mail's Jenny Hope that handsets may also increase temperature in the groin, if a man was wearing it on a belt or carrying it around in a pocket.
Uh-oh.
