Men and mobiles  -  calls to take caution

From study by Andrology Unit, Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Szeged, Hungary

News report   MSN.com   June 2004

Mobile phones bring convenience and peace of mind, but the benefit of always being contactable may have a downside.  New research shows men who regularly carry their mobiles near the groin, on a belt or in a pocket could potentially have their sperm count reduced by as much as 30 percent, ACA reports.

The study, conducted by Hungarian researchers, suggests male fertility could be affected by the radiation emitted by mobile phones.  It also found the sperm that did survive exposure to radiation showed abnormal movements.

Dr Chris Merry, vice-president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), says men shouldn't panic; rather the findings serve as a warning to think carefully about what they do with their mobile phone.

"You want to be safe rather than sorry," says Dr Merry.  "Who knows if this will have long-term implications for Australia's reproductive future?  I think in the short term it's probably better to keep your mobile phone in your jacket pocket or somewhere away from your groin."

But Professor David de Krester, director of Andrology Australia, an organisation specialising in male fertility, is questioning the validity of the research, which studied 221 men over 13 months.

While the jury is still out, Dr Merry advises all of us to employ some cautionary measures when carrying our mobile phones.  These include:

• Limiting the time you spend talking on your mobile phone;

• Store your mobile phone away from your groin area;

• Try storing your phone in your jacket pocket;

• If driving, try keeping your phone on the car seat next to you.

• Bear in mind mobiles still make regular transmission to maintain contact with radio towers even when they're not in use.

This study was formally presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Berlin 29 June 2004.

Dr Imre Fejes and colleagues from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Szeged in Hungary studied the mobile phone use and sperm counts of 221 men over a 13-month period.  They asked the men how long they had owned a mobile phone and for how many hours they carried it about their person in standby mode, as well as how long they spent in calls every day.  They drew comparisons between those who used their phones a lot and non-users.

Heavy users of mobile phones had sperm counts that were up to 30% lower than those who did not have or use a mobile at all, the scientists say.  They found that not only did using the phone affect a man's sperm count and the motility (speed of movement) of the sperm, but simply having it switched on in a pocket was enough to do damage.  Mobile phones periodically but briefly transmit information to radio masts to establish contact.

"The prolonged use of cell phones may have negative effect on spermatogenesis and male fertility, that presumably deteriorates both concentration and motility," say the Hungarian team in the abstract produced for the conference.   "Further controlled randomised studies are necessary to precise the correlation coefficients."

Dr. Imre Fejes, Andrology Unit, Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Szeged, Semmelweis u. 1 H-6725, Szeged, Hungary.

Study authors - Imre Fejes MD, Zoltan Javaczki MD, Janos Szollosi MD PhD, Sandor Koloszar MD PhD, Jozsef Daru MD PhD, Laszlo Kovacs MD PhD DSc, Attila Pal MD PhD.

"Is there a relationship between cellphone use and semen quality", 2005, Fejes I, Javaczki Z, Szollosi J, Koloszar S, Daru J, Kovacs L, Pal A.