Dr. Mercola November 09 2006 3,348 views
A study of more than 350 men has found that those who use a cell phone for more than four hours a day have fewer sperm, and also poorer quality sperm.
The study's author suggested that radiation from mobile phones might harm sperm by damaging DNA, the cells that produce testosterone, or the tubes where sperm is produced.
But another expert has argued that the problem was likely not the cell phones themselves that were the cause, but rather the sedentary nature of the cell phone users.
Men who talked on the phone for more than four hours a day had the lowest average sperm counts (50 million per milliliter), and the least healthy sperm.
Those who talked between two and four hours a day averaged sperm counts of 69 million per milliliter, and had moderately healthy sperm. Those who did not use mobile phones at all had sperm counts of 86 million per milliliter, on average, and the healthiest sperm.
Just as the electromagnetic fields emitted from a cell phone may harm your brain, men who use their mobiles four hours a day or longer could be harming their sperm.
Some 750 million cellular phones will be sold this year, and all the health problems associated with them are cropping up with greater regularity. Media headlines seem to jump back and forth between reporting on the dangers of cell phones and then on their safety.
This is an issue that you would be well served in carefully researching. You might consider starting with the best extensive scientific review I have seen, which was published in the British journal The Lancet. The full-text article is available for your review.
When you are researching this topic you might want to consider a parallel issue from history. Nearly 100 years ago JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) ads showed physicians smoking and describing all the health benefits of smoking.
Nearly a century later, after science has had time to document the destructive effects of tobacco, these ads look absolutely ridiculous. I suspect many "experts" voicing denial of cell phone radiation damage will eventually be viewed as being as misguided as the 1920 JAMA cigarette ads.
Because of the many known damaging effects of electromagnetic fields (EMFs), I used to discourage cell phone use entirely. Then, with the advent of headsets, my once rigid avoidance relaxed a bit, as headsets do seem to significantly lower your EMF exposure.
You can protect your body by putting some distance between you and your phone by using a headset. Alternatively you can use the speaker phone feature. I refuse to purchase a cell phone without this feature as this will dramatically lower EMF exposure if it is convenient to use it.
If it is inconvenient to use the speakerphone feature then please do yourself a favor and use protection. I have found that the best headsets comes equipped with an air tub, instead of a wire, that effectively blocks radiation from traveling up the wire to your brain.
If you are unable to find these types of headsets locally we do carry them in our store and a link is at the top of the page.
I bought an unlocked gsm cellular phone from romeohifi.com and the sales person pushed me to buy the headset because he said will protect me againest the cell phone radiation which could cause cancer. At that time I bought it and I was thinking why this guy is pushing me to buy the headset. Now after reading this artical I am glad that the sales person from romeohifi.com sold me the headset. Thanks romeohifi.
Cancer and other health risks due to exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) was a popular notion in the mid-1990s. It was subsequently shown to be a hoax, when Robert P. Liburdy, a cell biologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, was exposed as having faked data in two papers. The notion has now been largely discredited. See "Scientist Faked Data Linking Cancer to Electromagnetic Fields, Probe Finds", New York Times, July 24, 1999 (www.nytimes.com/.../072499sci-fake-data.html). Also see "Electromagnetic Fields and Cancer: The not generally known facts" (www.papimi.com/.../em_can.htm). Can we put this urban legend to rest now?