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Mobile phone use may reduce sperm quality, Swiss study suggests

7.11.2023

Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson

A recent study shows that, on average, young men with intensive mobile phone use have a lower sperm concentration than those who rarely use their phones. However, the correlation decreases as mobile communication standards improve.

Around one in six couples are affected by infertility. This can have a serious impact on the mental health of those affected. In around half of the cases, the difficulty is attributed to the male partner. Nonetheless, the cause of declining sperm quality (which includes sperm concentration, morphology, motility and vitality) has not yet been sufficiently researched. As studies exploring this topic usually recruit their participants at sperm banks, there’s no representative cross-section of the population from the outset.

However, a recent study conducted by the University of Geneva and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute has provided another piece of the puzzle in researching the causes of male infertility – minus this selection bias.

Sperm quality and smartphone use of young Swiss people evaluated

The cross-sectional study used data from 2,886 Swiss men between the ages of 18 and 22. As the data was collected in six different Swiss Army recruitment centres between 2005 and 2018, it provides an insight into the mobile phone usage behaviour and semen quality of a broad average.

The young men who took part in the study gave a sperm sample and completed a questionnaire on how often they used their mobiles.

Many causes for decreasing sperm count

Overall, sperm quality has declined over the past 50 years, primarily affecting men in Western countries. On average, the sperm count has roughly halved from an average of 99 million sperm per millilitre to 47 million per millilitre. Mobile phone use is suspected to be a possible cause, along with environmental factors including endocrine disruptors (i.e. chemical substances that interfere with the hormone balance) or pesticides and lifestyle factors – alcohol, tobacco, diet and stress, for example.

More phone, less sperm

The Swiss study has now shown a link between frequent phone use and a lower sperm concentration. Men who used their smartphones more than 20 times a day had a significantly lower sperm count than those who used them no more than once a week. You’re probably wondering which young men these days use their smartphone once a week or less. This can be explained by the fact that the study started back in 2005, when smartphones weren’t such an integral part of our lives yet.

According to the WHO’s definition, the risk of being diagnosed as infertile (i.e. less than 20 million sperm per millilitre) is 30 per cent higher for frequent mobile phone users than for men who don’t use a mobile device.

Mobile kept in trouser pocket may not pose additional risk

The study also asked whether participants kept their mobile phone in their trouser pockets when not in use. No correlation was found between sperm quality and how close to the body the phone is kept. However, as almost all participants kept their phones in their pockets, the control group with those who didn’t was too small to draw any reliable conclusions.

How mobile phone standards affect sperm

A lot has changed in terms of mobile communications standards between the start of the study in 2005 and the end of 2018. Interestingly, the switch from 2G to 3G, and later from 3G to 4G, is also reflected in the sperm data. The correlation between mobile phone use and sperm quality decreased over the course of the study. The association was strongest in the first phase of the study (2005–2007), after which it gradually declined. The higher mobile phone standard goes hand in hand with lower transmission power of smartphones. This, in turn, may reduce the effects on sperm.

Header photo: cottonbro studio/pexels

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Anna Sandner

Senior Editor

Anna.Sandner@galaxus.de

Science editor and biologist. I love animals and am fascinated by plants, their abilities and everything you can do with them. That's why my favourite place is always outside - somewhere in nature, preferably in my wild garden.

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