A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

semen: Microwave News Article Archive (2004 - )

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.

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.

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." 

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