A study by the Cleveland Clinic found cellphone radiation lowers sperm counts and causes abnormalities in sperm shape and mobility, said the study’s lead researcher, Reproductive Research Center research director Ashok Agarwal.
Despite these findings, which were published in January 2008, Agarwal said other hypotheses remain untested. He said follow-up studies need to be conducted because there can be other reasons for decreasing sperm quality.
Agarwal said the study compared semen samples from the same men and subjected one sample to cellphone radiation for an hour to determine if abnormalities are caused solely by radiation exposure.
“Many men keep their cell phones in their pockets while on Bluetooth and this may heat the testes and cause a disturbance in creation of semen,” he said.
Agarwal said it would be much more difficult to research cellphone effects on women but thinks that female reproductive organs are less likely to be harmed by cellphone radiation.
Other cellphone and health-related studies in the past 10 to 15 years have examined cellphones’ effect on brain cancer, but the Food and Drug Administration has said the results of these studies are inconclusive because they cannot be easily reproduced.
Though no scientific studies has proven cellphones cause health problems, no proof exists that they are entirely safe either, according to the FDA’s website.
Agarwal said if other studies can prove the cause-and-effect relationship between cellphones and abnormal sperm, then prevention will be the next step.
Repromedix Corporation fertility research investigator David Brown said researchers at the Cleveland Clinic should consider other factors in men’s lifestyles, like personality types and stress, to better determine the cause of lower sperm count.
Massachusetts General Hospital fertility center specialist Aaron Styre said he has problems with the study because of its small patient numbers and other factors.
“We can’t counsel patients or give them any information because the study is not comprehensive,” he said.