Cleveland (OH) – Excessive cell phone usage could lower male sperm count and quality, according to researchers at the Cleveland Clinic.  In a study published in the January 2008 issue of the Fertility and Sterility journal, researchers discovered that sperm counts were inversely proportional to cell phone usage -  that is men who used the phone for a few minutes a day had higher counts than men who used cell phones for hours.

The study further shows that men who used phones for more than four hours a day had the lowest sperm count along with the fewest viable sperm.Dr. Ashok Agarwal, one of the authors of the study, told Reuters that the numbers do not prove a cause-and effect relationship between cell phone radiation and fertility.  The researchers plan on conducting two more surveys which will examine a larger group of men and direct electromagnetic radiation exposure on sperm.

Dr. Agarwal had done an earlier study in 2006, with 364 men, where he found sperm counts decreased from 86 million per milliliter to 66 million/mL for men who didn’t use a cell phone to men who used phones more than four hours a day.

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