Sperm damaged by WiFi laptops
2nd December 2011
Using a laptop connected to the internet via Wi-Fi could be decreasing men’s fertility by affecting their sperm quality, a new study suggests (Fertility and Sterility 2011; online 23 Nov).
Researchers conducted a simple experiment on sperm samples taken from 29 healthy donors, comparing samples left under a Wi-Fi connected laptop computer for 4 hours with sperm samples kept away from any electronic device (control, or comparison, group).
They found that sperm motility (movement) was only 69 per cent in the sperm sample exposed to the Wi-Fi laptop compared with 80 per cent in the control sperm. Sperm need to be motile - able to swim - to fertilise an ovum (egg).
The drop in motile sperm corresponded to an increase in sperm unable to swim of around 25 per cent in the sperm exposed to the laptop, compared with 14 per cent in the control sperm.
Similarly, more than twice the number of sperm, 8.6 per cent, had broken up DNA in the sample exposed to the laptop compared with only 3.3 per cent of control sperm. Damaged DNA affects the ability of sperm to fertilise an ovum and lead to a healthy baby.
"Our findings suggest that prolonged use of portable computers sitting on the lap of a male user may decrease sperm fertility potential," the authors from Argentina said.
Radiation from the laptop connected to Wi-Fi was 3 times higher than without Wi-Fi, and at least 7 times higher than control conditions.
The authors speculated that the detrimental effect on sperm quality was due to radio waves, not heating, because temperature was controlled during the experiment.
Last Reviewed: 05 December 2011
- 1. Avendano C, Mata A, Sanchez Sarmiento CA, Doncel GF. Use of laptop computers connected to internet through Wi-Fi decreases human sperm motility and increases sperm DNA fragmentation. Fertil Steril 2011 Nov 22. [Epub ahead of print]. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0015028211026781 (accessed Dec 2011).
