Higher cell phone use linked with lower sperm count, research suggests

A new study out of the journal Fertility and Sterility suggests that higher cell phone usage may be associated with lower sperm counts.

The study, called "Association between self-reported mobile phone use and the semen quality of young men," was published on October 31. Researchers recruited over 2,800 men — 2,886 to be exact — ages 18-22 from the general Swiss population between 2005-2018 during their mandatory military service.

This study was brought about because of the sharp increase in cell phone usage in the past few decades and concern over potential risks. Our phones emit a low level of non-ionizing radio frequency radiation, which is generally considered harmless according to the FDA, but some people have concerns as to how it impacts reproductive health.

Of the total amount of men who participated in the study, researchers had data on mobile phone usage for the vast majority (2,789). Of those, 2,759 responded to questions about frequency of cell phone usage, and 2,764 provided details of whereabouts of their phones when not in use.

"The median sperm concentration and TSC [total sperm count] were significantly higher in the group of men who did not use their phones more than once per week...compared with men using their phones >20 times per day," the study reports.

This correlates into a 21 percent decrease in sperm concentration and 22 percent decrease in TSC for frequent (over 20 times a day) compared to rare (less than once a week) cell phone users.

The odds of having sperm concentration below the World Health Organization's (WHO) reference value for fertile men (15 million sperm per milliliter) was significantly higher for men who use their phones 5-10 times a day compared to those who used it 1-5 times a day or less than once a week. "In this logistic regression model, men using their phones >20 times per day had a 30 [percent] and a 21 [percent] increased risk of having sperm concentration and TSC below the WHO reference values for fertile men, respectively," according to the study.

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Sperm volume, motility (the ability to move properly), and morphology (size and shape) differences weren't associated with cell phone use frequency. The majority of men in the study (85.7 percent) kept their phones in their pants pockets, but that was not associated with sperm quality differences either.

Correlation also doesn't mean causation. Lifestyle factors like diet, alcohol use, cigarette smoking, stress, and others can affect infertility as well. As the study concludes, "The lack of clear evidence for a negative association between mobile phone use and male fertility [meaning an increase in cell phone use while a decrease in fertility], as well as the dramatic increase in cell phone use over the past decade, underscores the need for further research in this area."