An American study indicates that men who are heavy users of mobile phones have significantly lower sperm counts than usual and may be at risk of infertility. (File Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

BEIJING, Oct. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Men who are heavy users of mobile phones have significantly lower sperm count than usual and may be at risk of infertility, according to a new study released at a medical conference in New Orleans in the U.S. this week.

    The researchers found that men who use mobiles for over four hours a day have 25 percent lower sperm count than men who never used a mobile, and there is a 30 percent drop in sperm motility or movement and viability compared with those who did not.

    "There was a significant decrease in the most important measures of sperm health and that should definitely be reflected in a decrease in fertility, which is seen worldwide," said Dr. Ashok Agarwal, who led the study and is the director of the Reproductive Research Center in Ohio.

    The study was carried out among 361 men from the United States and India. They were divided into four groups, with 40 never using a mobile, 107 men using them for less than two hours a day, 100 men using them for two to four hours daily and 114 making calls for four or more hours a day.

    "The main finding was that on all four parameters -- sperm count, motility, viability and morphology -- there were significant differences between the groups," Agarwal said.

    "The greater the use of cell phones the greater the decrease in these four parameters. That was very clear and very significant."

    Agarwal further pointed out that electromagnetic radiation emitted by handsets may be damaging cells vital to fertility.

    "These cells in the testes have been shown to be susceptible to electromagnetic waves in previous research in animals," he said. "Somehow electromagnetic waves may be causing direct damage to these cells and that perhaps causes a decrease in sperm production.

    "People use mobile phones without thinking twice what the consequences might be," Agarwal continued. "It is just like using a toothbrush, but mobiles could be having a devastating effect on fertility. It still has to be proved, but it could be having a huge impact because mobiles are so much part of our lives."

    There are also fears that a mobile phone may increase temperature in the groin if carried in the hip pocket.

    "Sperm is very temperature sensitive as shown by many studies, and a short-term rise in temperature could be responsible," he said.

    But Agarwal further stressed, the study did not prove mobile phones were damaging male fertility.

    "We still have a long way to go to prove this," he said, urging scientists to investigate the possibility.

    (Agencies)