A preliminary research conducted recently by a fertility clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, the United States, on 361 people who came to the clinic over one year found a link between the patient's usage of the mobile phone and sperm quality.

Overall, it was found that the sperm count and quality tended to decline as the daily hours of usage of mobile phone increased. The men who were said to use mobile phone for about four hours or more each day had the lowest average sperm count and had the fewest normal, viable sperm.

The research, which appears in the journal Fertility and Sterility, the official journal of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, raises pertinent questions about the health effects of mobile phones and other such wireless devices.

Already, a few studies have shown that long-term usage of mobile phone raises the risk of brain tumors.

Though the new findings by the study at the fertility clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, do not in fact prove that damage to the sperm is solely caused by use of mobile phone, there is an “eminent risk,” according to the researchers.

The researchers speculate that the electromagnetic energy emitted by the mobile phone could theoretically harm body tissues, including damage to the DNA.

Dr Ashok Agarwal, lead researcher, wrote in Fertility and Sterility: “Our results show a strong association of mobile phone use with decreased semen quality. However, they do not prove a cause-and-effect relationship. Whether mobile phones did directly affect men’s fertility is still not clear. More studies will be needed to prove this.”

A similar study, conducted by researchers in Hungary, had found that even just carrying a mobile phone can reduce a man’s sperm count by nearly 30%. That is, radiation from a mobile phone kept on a belt or in a pocket or on standby is enough to reduce both sperm count and mobility of surviving sperm.

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