WiFi damaging sperm

WiFi radiation from laptops, smartphones is damaging your sperm

Planet Health Wellness Sperm fertilizing an egg

The latest in a long line of radiation vs. sperm studies has shown, yet again, that you really ought to take your laptop off your lap. The report, published in the Fertility and Sterility journal by some Argentinian scientists, details how semen samples from 29 healthy, potent men suffered significant damage when placed underneath a WiFi-connected laptop.

In a control test — with the sperm kept away from WiFi emissions, but at the same under-laptop temperature — 14% of the sperm died within four hours, and 3% showed DNA damage. When placed underneath a laptop for four hours, 25% of the sperm died and 9% showed DNA damage. The important finding here is that WiFi electromagnetic (EM) radiation damaged the sperm — almost every other study has focused on increased temperature (which also damages sperm, incidentally).

Before you go out and buy a lead jockstrap, though, bear in mind that this is ex vivo — the sperm were outside the testes — and the scientific study does not go as far as to say that that EM radiation actually affects your chance of getting a girl pregnant. Basically, it’s entirely possible that the (thin) skin of your testicles is enough to stop WiFi signals from cooking your little men — and furthermore, you constantly produce sperm throughout the day, so unless you preface every conception attempt by having a laptop on your lap for four hours, you should be OK (though I fear I probably just described the standard evening setup for most households…)

Planet Health Wellness Sperm fertilizing an egg Perhaps more importantly, though, this study does show that very weak, low-frequency radiation does have an effect on sperm. We might know the extent of that effect, but this is proof that we at least ought to be careful. If anything, it reaffirms that we shouldn’t keep a notebook on our lap for a significant amount of time — and the same should be said of an iPad, Kindle Fire, or your choice of WiFi-enabled gizmo. You probably shouldn’t keep WiFi permanently enabled on your smartphone, either.