Phones linked to drop in young men’s sperm count

Mobile phone use has been linked to declining sperm in a 13-year study of young men.

Research following 2,500 Swiss men who were aged between 18 and 22 at the start of the study found sperm concentration ended up 21 per cent lower in frequent phone users.

It is the first study to back a previously discredited theory that electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile phones may affect semen quality.

The research team from the University of Geneva called for more research but said men should not be alarmed and stop carrying phones in their trouser pockets just yet.

Study co-author Rita Rahban said: ‘”Do the microwaves emitted by mobile phones have a direct or indirect effect? Do they cause a significant increase in temperature in the testes? Do they affect the hormonal regulation of sperm production? This all remains to be discovered.”

The study comes amid a decline in male semen quality globally in the last 50 years which scientists cannot explain. Published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, it found the median sperm concentration was significantly higher in the group of men who did not use their phone more than once a week, at 56.5 million/mL.