Male infertility linked to cell phone use

Hey, fellas, never mind swapping the tighty-whities for boxers if you're looking to give your little swimmers a leg up in the fertility lottery: Try stowing the cell phone in your underwear drawer instead of leaving it attached to your ear -- or in your pants pocket -- 24/7.
 
That appears to be the preliminary upshot of research reported today at the annual convention of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine being held in New Orleans.
 
Researchers studied 364 men who were being evaluated for infertility, and split them into three groups according to their respective sperm counts. Those who spent more than four hours a day on a cell phone were found to produce almost a quarter less sperm per milliliter than those who do not use such phones. The quality of the sperm was also found to be abnormal more often among the cell-phone users.
 
``The effect of cell phones on sperm parameters may be due to the electromagnetic radiation the devices emit or to the heat they generate,'' the group said in a summary of the research. ``Further studies will be necessary to identify the mechanism involved in the reduction of sperm quality due to cell phones.''
 
Earlier studies have linked male infertility to the use of laptops and even disposable diapers, although these risks have yet to achieve anything approaching scientific consensus.
 
In the meantime, good luck getting your work done without a cell phone or laptop.