Scientists question if wi-fi laptops can damage sperm

Standard Toaster

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15943816

Scientists are questioning if using wi-fi on a laptop to roam the internet could harm a man's fertility,
after lab work suggested ejaculated sperm were significantly damaged after only four hours of exposure.

The benchside tests showed sperm were less able to swim and had changes in the genetic code that they carry.

Experts stress this does not mean the same would occur in a real-life setting and say men should not worry unduly.

But they are recommending more studies.

The preliminary research, published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, looked at semen samples from 29 healthy donors.

Each donor sample was separated out into two pots.
One of these pots was then stored for four hours next to a laptop that was wirelessly connected to the internet.
The other was stored under identical conditions, minus the laptop.

The scientists, from Argentina and the US, suspect that the effect seen is unrelated to the heat kicked out by a laptop, although heat can damage sperm.

Under investigation

The UK's Health Protection Agency has been closely monitoring the safety of wi-fi.

It says people using wi-fi, or those in the proximity of wi-fi equipment, are exposed to the radio signals it emits - and some of the transmitted energy in the signals is absorbed in their bodies.

However, the signals are very low power.

The HPA says there is no consistent evidence to date that exposure to radio signals from wi-fi adversely affects the health of the general population.

UK fertility expert Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, said: "The study is very well conducted, but we should be cautious about what it may infer about the fertility of men who regularly use laptops with wi-fi on their laps.

"Ejaculated sperm are particularly sensitive to many factors because outside the body they don't have the protection of the other cells, tissues and fluids of the body in which they are stored before ejaculation. Therefore, we cannot infer from this study that because a man might use a laptop with wi-fi on his lap for more than four hours then his sperm will necessarily be damaged and he will be less fertile.

"We need large epidemiological studies to determine this, and to my knowledge these have not yet been performed."

He said men should still be cautious about balancing a laptop on their thighs for hours on end.

"We know from other studies that the bottom of laptops can become incredibly hot and inadvertent testicular heating is a risk factor for poor sperm quality.

"There is a case report of a man who burnt his penis after using a laptop resting on his lap for a long time. Therefore, there are many reasons to try and use a laptop on a table where possible, and this may in itself ameliorate any theoretical concerns about wi-fi."

Damn it! I must take better care to keep my laptop away from the open petri dish where all my sperm is kept. Oh wait.....

sbsquarepants

Damage? I don't know, cause the loss of, certainly! Damn redtube!

Snakeblood

Standard Toaster wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15943816
Damn it! I must take better care to keep my laptop away from the open petri dish where all my sperm is kept. Oh wait.....

I think you mean the sock.

AnonoBoy

Can wi-fi damage sperm? Not if you ejaculate away from the router.

Guill

Nope, unfortunatly........

Jen Pigs Fly

Ah sure everything damages sperm these days .... :rolleyes:
I'd imagine a fully functioning man will be in hot demand in a few years time :P

mikom

Patient: Doctor, doctor, I believe I may be impotent.

Doctor: Have you tried switching your cock off and on again?

mathie

Scientists question?

Jesus they could say anything and get away with it.

Scientists question is everyone on boards is a cunt.

Celly Smunt

happy days

Condom be gone!

Brendog

of course it damages sperm.

internet porn was always gonna damage sperm

kylith

If I'm reading that correctly they left the sperm beside a laptop. If you're trying to conceive (the kind of situation where you're worried about sperm count and motility) it's usual to deposit your sperm into a woman, not a petri dish that you leave lying around the place.

Tests need to be done on just ejaculated sperm to see whether the wifi effects them whilst still in the testes.

Snowie

wifi resistant under wear bet the japs are on it already

The Outside Agency

Apparently prolonged exposure to Wi-Fi signals can cause memory loss and brain damage.

WalterMitty

People with children arent any happier than those without. And have you seen the costs of raising a kid nowadays! This should be in bargain alerts, buy laptop get free electromagnetic vasectomy.

stovelid

It's only fair.

I've been damaging my laptop screen with sperm for years.

Dravokivich

The benchside tests showed sperm were less able to swim and had changes in the genetic code that they carry.

Sweet, mutants!

Latchy

Apparently people who live within a 10 mile radius of wind farms are at high risk of catching all sorts to and at the rate those yolks spew out germs in the wind I'm not surprised :pac:

Wetai

Wouldn't the heat of the laptop (especially Alluminium laptops that can, supposedly, get really hot) be more of a risk?

Saila

this just in, jizz damages wifi in relatiation

Stiffler2

I've often wondered about this. Surely it can't be good either way for these signals to be passing through your body 24/7 from :

Pile ons - Telephone masts
Wifi
Satelite Signals
Radio Signals
pretty much any radio transmitted signal.

As this technology has only been around recently no one really knows the long term effects it will have on the human body.

Cee-Jay-Cee

nivekd wrote: »

Apparently prolonged exposure to Wi-Fi signals can cause memory loss and brain damage.

I was going to write something in reply but i've forgotten what...

PeterIanStaker

Good, I hope my laptop nukes all my swimmers. Don't want any accidents. Still obviously will wear johnnies.

Fbjm

If this is true, most of us are ****ed.

jimmyendless

"No need for protection baby, had a laptop on my lap all day" says father of 10.

ejmaztec

jimmyendless wrote: »

"No need for protection baby, had a laptop on my lap all day" says father of 10.

Terror-bytes?

Antomus Prime

stovelid wrote: »

It's only fair.

I've been damaging my laptop screen with sperm for years.

It's part of skynets plan to eradicate us human folk!!!

Saila

*plugs in LAN cable*

pragmatic1

Meh. I'll make a few hundred million new ones tomorrow.

Capt'n Midnight

WTF

the reason testicles are outside the body is to keep them cool

laptops generate heat


if they haven't corrected for this then the whole study is a load of bollocks.

Samich

I heard about this years and years ago before wi fi. They said laptops can make you infertile if it's on your lap.