A study published in the journal “Fertility and Sterility” (I link it here) raised alarm bells for men: heavy cell phone use may be linked to low sperm count.
The research, conducted by a team from the University of Geneva in collaboration with the Swiss Institute of Public Health, examined the link between the frequency of cell phone use and the quality of semen in a sample of men.
The link between cell phone and sperm count
The research involved 2.886 men, collecting data and sperm samples to analyze the impact of cell phone use on semen quality. The results showed that men who regularly use cell phones have a 20% lower sperm concentration than those who use them limitedly.
Changes over time
Interestingly, the correlation between cell phone use and sperm characteristics was more marked in the first years of the study, between 2005 and 2007, and then progressively decreased. This trend seems to follow the technological evolution from 2G to the more modern 4G devices, which have significantly lower RF-EMF transmission power.
Professor Martin Röösli, co-author of the study, highlights how new generations of mobile networks have reduced transmission power, raising hopes that emerging technologies, such as 5G, can continue this positive trend.
Results and future prospects
Despite the findings, scientists found no correlation between where men store their cell phones and the quality of semen. The sample of men who did not carry cell phones was too small to draw definitive conclusions.
The authors of the study call for renewed research efforts on male infertility, which collapses globally. As he states Rita Rahban, first author of the study, many questions remain open: is the effect of cell phones direct or indirect? Do they significantly increase the temperature in the testicles? Do they influence the hormonal regulation of sperm production?
Questions still open, which offer no certainty about the "guilt" of smartphones, which until proven otherwise remain at most "co-responsible" for a trend that is affected by many different factors.
