A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

fertility: Microwave News Article Archive (2004 - )

September 11, 2022

Association Between Electronic Device Usage and Sperm Quality Parameters in Healthy Men Screened as Potential Sperm Donors,” Environmental Pollution, November 2022. New study from China shows negative, albeit modest, impact of using electronic devices on fertility. A perhaps surprising finding: Headset use also linked to lower sperm quality. Authors explain: Those using headsets may have phones closer to their reproductive organs.

November 4, 2021

“Effect of Radiation Emitted by Wireless Devices on Male Reproductive Hormones: A Systematic Review,” Frontiers in Physiology: Reproduction, September 24, 2021. Open access. “[A]voiding long-term and excessive use of mobile phone is advisable to reduce the detrimental effect of RF-EMR.”

August 5, 2021
December 13, 2016

“RF Radiation (900 MHz)-Induced DNA Damage and Cell Cycle Arrest in Testicular Germ Cells in Swiss Albino Mice,” Toxicology and Industrial Health, posted online October 13, 2016.

“Induced oxidative stress causes DNA damage in germ cells, which alters cell cycle progression leading to low sperm count in mice.” These changes are reversible (from Assam University, India; open access).

September 8, 2016

“The Effects of RF EM Radiation on Sperm Function,” Reproduction, posted September 6, 2016.

“We propose a mechanistic model in which RF-EMR exposure leads to defective mitochondrial function associated with elevated levels of ROS production…” From Australia, open access.

March 9, 2016

“Effects of Cell Phone Use on Semen Parameters: Results from the MARHCS Cohort Ctudy in Chongqing, China,” Environment International, May 2016.

“Our results suggest that certain aspects of cell phone use may negatively affect sperm quality in men by decreasing the semen volume, sperm concentration, or sperm count, thus impairing male fertility.” Click here for more on the growing literature detailing effects on fertility.

February 3, 2015

“The Effects of Electromagnetic Waves Emitted by the Cell Phones on the Testicular Tissue,” Archives of Italian Urology and Andrology, Vol.86, No.4, pp.274-277, 2014.

The testes of rats exposed to 24hr of cell phone radiation (8hr in talk mode & 16hr in standby mode) for 20 days showed statistically signifcant changes in tissue structure. The authors caution against “unnecessary use of cell phones.” From Turkey. Open access.

November 30, 2014

“Are Men Talking Their Reproductive Health Away?” Asian Journal of Andrology, posted online November 18, 2014.

“Until proven otherwise, it is recommended that those with subfertility issues or seeking assisted reproduction minimize their exposure to environmental RF‐EMW radiation to alleviate its potential negative impact on sperm quality.” By Ashok Agarwal and Damayanthi Durairajanayagam of the Cleveland Clinic; open access.

June 10, 2014

“Effect of Mobile Telephones on Sperm Quality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” Environment International, September 2014.

Open access. From the U.K. “We conclude that pooled results from in vitro and in vivo studies suggest that mobile phone exposure negatively affects sperm quality.” See also a recent related review from China. And this new, more general review from Dublin, Ireland.

April 7, 2014

“Association Between Mobile Phone Use and Semen Quality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” Andrology, posted online April 3, 2014.

“[A]lthough the defined effect of mobile phone use on semen quality cannot be concluded from the existing studies, men should not keep mobile phone in their trousers pockets or near testicles to avoid the potential harmful effect of RF radiation on the male reproductive system.” From the 3rd Military University in Chongqing, China.

August 19, 2013

“Mobile Phone Radiation [MPR] Induces Mode-Dependent DNA Damage in a Mouse Spermatocyte-Derived Cell Line: a Protective Role of Melatonin,” International Journal of Radiation Biology, posted online August 19, 2013, from Chongqing, China.

“[H]ands-free devices might reduce the MPR exposure intensity to the human head. However … the male reproductive system may be put into risks. Thus, it is important and urgent to establish feasible and effective strategies to prevent reproductive impairment following daily exposure to MPR. Significantly increased levels of DNA damage in the “dialing” and “dialed” modes were found in the present study…”

October 24, 2012

“Influence of EMFs on Reproductive System of Male Rats,”

International Journal of Radiation Biology, by a group at J. Nehru University in New Delhi, led by J. Behari, posted online on October 19, 2012.

July 27, 2012

De-Kun Li is the last man standing. Not long ago, many of the leading environmental epidemiologists in the U.S. were working on EMFs of one kind or another. They've all moved on —all except De-Kun Li, and he continues to break new ground in one study after another.

Li, a senior researcher at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, CA, has now shown that EMF exposures in the womb are linked to an increased risk of childhood obesity.

"Maternal exposure to high [magnetic fields] during pregnancy may be a new and previously unknown factor contributing to the world-wide epidemic of childhood obesity/overweight," Li writes in a paper posted today by Scientific Reports, a peer-reviewed, open access journal owned by the group that publishes Nature.

November 6, 2009

De-Kun Li's new epidemiological study showing that extended exposure to weak magnetic fields as low as 1.6 mG (0.16 µT) can have negative effects on sperm quality was published today by Reproductive Toxicology.

"This is the first demonstration of a link between EMF exposure and the decline of semen quality," Li told Microwave News. The study, which was carried out in Shanghai, has important implications for overall fertility because approximately 40% of the Shanghai population is exposed to more than 1.6 mG for 2.4 hours on a daily basis.

August 16, 2009

It's the strongest warning yet. John Aitken, a well-known fertility researcher, is advising men who want to have children not to keep active mobile phones below their waists. This issue, he says, "deserves our immediate attention."

July 3, 2008

Exposures to ambient magnetic fields may affect the quality of human sperm and may well explain its well-documented decline over the last few decades. De-Kun Li, an epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, CA, has found that daily exposures of only 1.6 mG or higher for at least two-and-a-half hours were associated with significantly poorer semen quality. Men who were exposed to over 1.6 mG for over six hours a day were four times more likely to have substandard sperm.

May 8, 2007

A study that stirred worldwide uneasiness last fall —as well as quite a bit of disbelief— is now in print. In October, Ashok Agarwal of the Cleveland Clinic presented a paper at a fertility conference showing that men who used their cell phones for more than four hours a day had poorer semen quality than those who went phone-free (see our October 26, 2006 post).

Agarwal's paper has been posted on the Fertility and Sterility Web site and will appear in a forthcoming issue of the journal. Here is his conclusion: "Use of cell phones decrease the semen quality in men by decreasing the sperm count, motility, viability, and normal morphology. The decrease in sperm parameters was dependent on the duration of daily exposure to cell phones and independent of the initial semen quality." 

October 27, 2006

The American press may be ignoring the cell phone–sperm story, but not so physicist Robert Park. That slayer of voodoo science wants it dead and buried. [Disclosure: We have had vehement disagreements with Park over the years, especially when back in 2001, he called Microwave News a "fear merchant" based on little more than his own self-deceptions.]

October 26, 2006

The last time we checked earlier today, there were 124 different articles listed on Google News pegged to a report that cell phones can damage sperm quality. The more hours a day men spent on their phones, the greater the harm to the count, motility, viability and morphology of their sperm, according to a paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, being held this week in New Orleans. Every major paper in England ran a detailed story, as did news media in Australia, India and New Zealand. (We didn't check foreign language outlets, though we did see links to some in China and Turkey.)

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