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New study links the electromagnetic radiation emitted by Wi.Fi-enabled laptops to sperm damage

The digital age has left men's nether parts in a squeeze, if we believe the latest science on semen, laptops and wireless connections.

In a report in the venerable medical journal Fertility and Sterility, published at the end of November 2011, Argentinian scientists describe how they got semen samples from 29 healthy men, placed a few drops under a laptop connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi and then hit download.

After four hours of exposure, a quarter of the sperm were no longer swimming around, compared to just 14 percent from semen samples stored at the same temperature away from the computer. And nine percent of the sperm showed DNA damage, three-fold more than the comparison samples.

The culprit? Electromagnetic (EM) radiation generated during wireless communication, say Conrado Avendano of Nascentis Medicina Reproductiva in Cordoba, Argentina and colleagues.

"Our data suggest that the use of a laptop computer wirelessly connected to the internet and positioned near the male reproductive organs may decrease human sperm quality," they write in their report.

"At present we do not know whether this effect is induced by all laptop computers connected by Wi-Fi to the internet or what use conditions heighten this effect."

A separate test with a laptop that was on, but not wirelessly connected, found negligible EM radiation from the machine alone.

The researchers called for more research to prove their speculation, adding that it was not clear that the sperm damage would be seen with all laptops.

The findings fuel concerns raised by a few other research teams.

Some have found that radiation from cell phones creates feeble sperm in the lab, for example. And last year urologists described how a man's sitting with a laptop balanced on his knees can crank up the temperature of his scrotum to levels that aren't good for sperm.

So between the heat and the radiation from today's electronic devices, testicles would seem to be hard-pressed.

But other experts were not so sure, and caveats abound.

"This is not real-life biology," Dr. Robert Oates, president of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology, told Reuters. "This is a completely artificial setting. It's is scientifically interesting, but to me it doesn't have any human biological relevance."

Oates, who has managed to father two kids despite having both a laptop and an iPad, added he does not believe laptops are a significant threat to male reproductive health.

He said that so far, no study has ever looked at whether laptop use has any influence on fertility or pregnancy outcomes.

The researchers called for more research to prove their speculation, adding that it was not clear that the sperm damage would be seen with all laptops.

While the impact of modern technology is still murky, lifestyle does matter, researchers say.

One thing is for certain - infertility is a common problem. About 15 percent of couples are infertile, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians, and roughly one-third of the time the problem lies solely with the man.

Doctors have identified numerous potential causes of male infertility. These include infections, hormone imbalances, smoking, vitamin deficiency, and certain medications. Many cases are associated with varicocele, a surgically correctable condition in which blood vessels in the scrotum impair sperm production by raising the temperature of the testicles.

Earlier on November 2011, a report in Fertility and Sterility showed that men who eat a diet rich in fruit and grains and low in red meat, alcohol and coffee have a better shot at getting their partner pregnant during fertility treatment.

"You should be keeping yourself healthy," including staying lean, eating healthy foods, exercising, not taking drugs and not smoking, agreed Oates.

And for those laptop worries, he mused, "I don't know how many people use laptops on their laps anyway."