We have modified our environment in so many ways: with technology, with biological engineering, with chemicals. And because we are inventing and using things faster than we can test them, we are exposing ourselves to things that are potentially dangerous to our reproduction. How many times have you sat with a laptop on your lap, surfing the net; (probably wirelessly)...in the airport, on the train on the way to work, sitting outside to get some fresh air?

A new study published in Fertility and Sterility this past week, suggests there may be a correlation between the motility and DNA integrity of sperm; and the amount of time those sperm are in close proximity to a lap top, especially when the lap top is connected to the internet wirelessly.

Researchers at Nascentis Medicina Reproductiva, Argentina, and the Eastern Virginia Medical School, USA performed this initial experiment. Sperm samples were taken from twenty-nine healthy, fertile males. These samples were place under lap tops, for four hours, in two groups: one group was under a lap top that was turned on, but not connected wirelessly to the internet, and the other was under a lap top that was continuously downloading information wirelessly for the full four hours. The results showed that in both groups, there was a decrease in sperm motility, and DNA fragmentation (an irreversible breakdown in the genetic code of the sperm.)

The differences in the two groups were as follows:

- Twenty five percent decrease in sperm motility with exposure to laptop plus Wi-Fi

- Fourteen percent drop in sperm motility with exposure to laptop alone

- Nine percent DNA fragmentation with exposure to laptop plus Wi-Fi

- Three percent DNA fragmentation with exposure to lap top alone

While the head researcher, Conrado Avendaño, agrees that more testing is needed, these experiments have shown a direct correlation.

“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. 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."

Reference: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/238455.php

- Lee