Cell Phones Lower Sperm Count

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Thursday, October 26, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Talking on a cell phone may take its toll on a man's fertility.

Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic, Tulane University Health Science Center in New Orleans, Louisiana and Mumbai, India, say the more a man uses his cell phone the lower his sperm count is likely to be.

Researchers looked at 364 men who were being evaluated for infertility. It monitored their sperm count, motility (the sperm's ability to move), and the amount of normal sperm.

The research reveals men with a normal sperm count who never used a mobile phone had average sperm counts of 86 million per milliliter, 68 percent motility, and 40 percent normal sperms.

In men with a normal sperm count who used their cell phones more than four hours a day the average sperm counts were 66 million per milliliter, 48 percent motility, and 21 percent normal sperms.

The study's authors believe the electromagnetic radiation cell phones emit may cause the effect on a man's sperm.

They conclude, "The use of cell phone by men undergoing infertility evaluation is strongly associated with a decrease in sperm quality. The effects do not depend on the initial semen quality of the subjects."

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SOURCE: Annual Meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine in New Orleans, Oct. 21-25, 2006