Males who place a laptop on their laps with the wireless network (WI-FI) on might have a greater risk of reduced sperm motility and more sperm DNA fragmentation, warns a new study.

Researchers at Nascentis Medicina Reproductiva (Córdoba, Argentina) and the Eastern Virginia Medical School (Norfolk, USA) conducted a prospective in vitro study in 29 healthy sperm donors to evaluate the effects of laptop computers connected to local area networks via Wi-Fi on human spermatozoa. Motile sperm were selected by swim up, and each sperm suspension was divided into two aliquots. One sperm aliquot from each patient was exposed to an internet-connected laptop by Wi-Fi for 4 hours, whereas the second aliquot was used as control, incubated under identical conditions without being exposed to the laptop. The main outcome measures were sperm motility, viability, and DNA fragmentation.

The results showed that the donor sperm samples exposed ex vivo during four hours to a WiFi-connected laptop showed a significant decrease in progressive sperm motility and an increase in sperm DNA fragmentation. One quarter of the sperm had lost motility in the Wi-Fi samples, while only 14% of the sperm had lost motility in the non-Wi-Fi samples; 9% of the sperm showed DNA damage in the Wi-Fi samples, while only 3% of the sperm showed DNA damage in the non-Wi-Fi samples. Levels of dead sperm showed no significant differences between the two groups. The study was published in the November 22, 2011, issue of Fertility and Sterility.

“Ex vivo exposure of human spermatozoa to a wireless internet-connected laptop decreased motility and induced DNA fragmentation by a nonthermal effect,” concluded lead author Biochemist Conrado Avendaño, PhD, of Nascentis Medicina Reproductiva. “We speculate that keeping a laptop connected wirelessly to the internet on the lap near the testes may result in decreased male fertility. Further in vitro and in vivo studies are needed to prove this contention.”
 

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