June 10, 2014

expert reaction to mobile phones and sperm quality

A systematic review and meta-analysis of ten studies published in Environment International, comprising controlled in vitro and observational in vivo studies, reported lower sperm motility and viability for men carrying a mobile phone in their trouser pocket.
Prof Richard Sharpe, University of Edinburgh:
“The study has been undertaken properly and is presented and interpreted with a reasonable degree of caution. With all such analyses, that combine results from different studies containing different populations of men (e.g. those attending and infertility clinic, those from the general population), there is considerable variation and the two largest studies included in the analysis actually came to opposing conclusions (one showed no evidence of ‘effect’, the other did). As in all such analyses, no proof of cause and effect can be shown.
“The key unanswered question is does it matter? I remain unconvinced that, if there is an adverse effect, that it will make much difference to the fertility of most men, but as the authors suggest, if you already had poor semen quality then any further detrimental effect, no matter how small, would be unwelcome. Regarding time trends in semen quality in men (a controversial topic in its own right), this has centered mainly around reduction in sperm concentration rather than motility, whereas the present study has the ‘effects’ the other way around, so I don’t see increased mobile phone use as a ready explanation for lower sperm counts in men; indeed, if sperm counts have fallen, then they did so long before mobile phone use became extensive.”

Prof Sheena Lewis, Professor of Reproductive Medicine at the Centre for Public Health, Queen’s University Belfast, said:
“The outcomes of the study are based on large numbers of men but caution must be exercised in interpreting the results as there are many differences between the different study designs – some are in vivo, some are in vitro, some are infertile men, some are from the general population – and the decrease in 8% motility may not be of significance in terms of the man’s overall fertility potential.”

Prof Neil McClure, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Queen’s University Belfast, said:
“This paper has taken a number of much smaller papers and grouped them together. However, the quality of data that has been pooled is flawed.
“Subjects are often those who are already attending an infertility clinic and subjects have self-reported their use of mobile phones: it is not clear if this is continuous or intermittent usage. It would be difficult to see how holding a mobile phone to one’s ear could have a significant pathological effect on sperm quality.
“What is clear is that a proper, randomised study of adequate scale is necessary if this question is to be answered. This study, and to be fair by its own admission, does not achieve that goal.”

Dr Allan Pacey, Senior Lecturer in Andrology at the University of Sheffield, said:
“There have been some crazy and alarming headlines on this subject. But, in my opinion, the studies undertaken to date have been somewhat limited. That’s because they have either sperm kept in a dish irradiated at frequencies used by mobile phones (which is not realistic) or they have made assessments of men’s phone habits without adequately considering other aspects of their lifestyle.
“Therefore, whilst undertaking a meta-analysis can be a good idea, in this instance I don’t think it helps us decide whether there is any risk of keeping a phone in your trouser pocket or not. What we need are some properly designed epidemiological studies where mobile phone use is considered alongside other lifestyle habits. Until that time, I will be continuing to keep my iphone in my trouser pocket!”

‘Effect of mobile telephones on sperm quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis’ by Fiona Mathews et al published in Environment International on Tuesday 10th June.

Declared interests
Dr Allan Pacey’s declared interests are: Chairman of the Executive Committee of the British Fertility Society, Chairman of the advisory committee of the UK National External Quality Assurance Schemes in Andrology, member of the Advisory Council of the National Gamete Donation Trust, member of a working group of the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood Tissues and Organs of the Department of Health (all unpaid). Also, consultancy for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, The Nuffield Council, University College London Hospitals, the World Health Organisation, and Capital K Pictures (paid consultancy with all money going to University of Sheffield).
Prof Sheena Lewis is a full time University Professor with current grant funding from NIHR and FP7 funding but not in this particular area of male infertility. She is also CEO of Lewis Fertility Testing Ltd.