Smartphone radiation impairs male fertility

The results of a recent US study prove: Normal-weight men who prefer to carry their smartphones in their front pants pockets are less fertile. Our medical directors Prof. Strohmer and Prof. Obruca advise: "Men who want to have children should not carry their phone directly on their abdomen."

For years, there has been discussion about the effects of phone radiation on people's health. In this context, the question of the extent to which carrying phones in one's pants pockets affects male fertility also comes up again and again. The current Boston University study, in which 751 Danish and 2,349 American men participated, has now investigated this question. The study participants had to indicate where on the body and how long per day they wore their smartphone. In addition, sperm cell findings were collected and it was documented how quickly their partners became pregnant. The results showed that normal-weight men who preferred to carry their smartphones in the front pockets of their pants had limited fertility. It thus took comparatively longer for these men to get their partners pregnant.

"Even if the effects are not very strong, men who want to have children should avoid carrying their phones in their pants pockets for long periods of time," says Prof. Strohmer.

Currently, 10-15% of all couples are involuntarily childless

Men hardly deal with the issue of their own fertility. However, the desire to have children can become a psychological burden for couples. "The causes of infertility lie 55.1% with the man, 14.8% with the woman and in 30.1% of cases with both partners," explains Prof. Obruca. This is where reproductive medicine can often help. In 2018, a total of around 16,300 IVF treatments were performed in Austria, including almost 11,000 that were supported by the IVF Fund - that is 50% more than ten years ago.

Source:
academic.oup.com/humrep/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/humrep/deab001/6132077