Want to have kids? Then you don’t put your cellphone in your pocket

Pockets are very useful for keeping a lot of small, valuable things, like keys, wallets, handkerchiefs, and even  smartphones.

But a new study carried out by a team of researchers at the University of Newcastle in Australia has warned that men may need to stash their phones elsewhere since these devices emit harmful radiation which may negatively affect their capacity to become fathers.

In a systemic review of 21 studies on radiation, it was shown that cellphones placed near a man’s genitals for a prolonged period of time consistently reduced the sperm count. Worse, the surviving sperm could possibly carry defects in DNA.

The study authors believe that there is growing body of evidence that suggests the possible role of radio frequency electromagnetic radiation from cellphones in causing damage to the male germ line. Their findings suggest that there was an 8% reduction in sperm motility and 9% reduction in sperm viability due to exposure to mobile phones.

“In a majority of studies, this damage has been characterized by loss of sperm motility and viability as well as the induction of ROS generation and DNA damage,” the authors wrote.

Still, further studies must be carried out to establish the direct link between cellphone radiation and sperm count decrease.

The mobile phone was previously classified as a possible 2B carcinogen by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2011.