A new study has shown the practice of carrying a smartphone in your trousers can have a drastic effect on fertility rates.
Scientists in Israel, who monitored over 100 men for a more than a year, found that 47 per cent of the men who kept their phones in their front trouser pocket had low sperm levels, compared to 11 per cent of the general population.
But it wasn’t just close proximity to the wedding tackle which affected the sperm count.
The study also found that men who chatted on the phone for more than an hour each day were twice as likely to have low sperm quality as those who spoke on their mobile for less than one hour per day.
And using the phone while it’s charging was also damaging. . Each participant noted time spent on the phone each day, where they were carrying their phone and whether they received calls while charging their phones.
Professor Martha Dirnfeld, of the Technion University in Haifa, said: “The levels were down to a number that would make conception difficult.
“If you are trying for a baby and it doesn’t happen within a year you might want to think of whether it could be your mobile phone habit that is to blame.”
Professor Gedis Grudzinskas, a fertility consult at St George’s Hospital London, warned men to take note of the study.
He said: “If you wear a suit to work put the mobile in your chest pocket instead of close to your testes. It will reduce the risk of your sperm count dropping.
“And do you need to keep the phone right next to you on the bedside table? Some men keep their mobile in their shorts or pyjamas in bed. Is that really necessary?”
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