Researchers are beginning to worry that mobiles may be impacting on male fertility, with studies showing a decrease in the “quality” of the sperm of men who pack phones in their trouser pockets.
10 separate studies involving 1492 men were aggregated by researchers at the University of Exeter, with nine of the ten studies finding that sperm was impacted by mobile phone exposure in some way. And we don’t think they mean taking photos of your chap on Snapchat.
University of Exeter researcher Dr Fiona Mathews said: “The studies are coming out with a consistent message that sperm motility declines with exposure to mobile telephones and similarly proportion which are alive, it’s about an eight percentage point fall.”
However, it’s just one possible thing in a sea of possible things that might affect our little soldiers, as the doctor explained: “I think for your average man there’s certainly no need to panic, if you already know you have a potential fertility issue then it might be an additional thing to consider – just as you might change your diet – you might want to change where you keep your phone.” [BBC]
Our newest offspring Gizmodo UK is gobbling up the news in a different timezone, so check them out if you need another Giz fix. [clear]