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Reproductive Health220 citations

Use of laptop computers connected to internet through Wi-Fi decreases human sperm motility and increases sperm DNA fragmentation.

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Avendaño C, Mata A, Sanchez Sarmiento CA, Doncel GF. · 2012

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Human sperm exposed to a Wi-Fi-connected laptop for four hours showed reduced progressive motility and increased DNA fragmentation.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers exposed sperm from 29 healthy donors to a Wi-Fi-connected laptop for four hours. Exposed sperm had significantly lower progressive motility and more DNA fragmentation than unexposed sperm. Sperm viability did not differ between groups.

Why This Matters

The authors report this is the first study to assess the direct impact of laptop use on human sperm. They attribute the effects to a nonthermal mechanism. The researchers speculate that laptop use on the lap near the testes may reduce male fertility. They call for further in vitro and in vivo studies to confirm this.

Exposure Information

Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. Duration: 4 hours

Study Details

To evaluate the effects of laptop computers connected to local area networks wirelessly (Wi-Fi) on human spermatozoa.

Semen samples from 29 healthy donors. Motile sperm were selected by swim up. Each sperm suspension w...

Donor sperm samples, mostly normozoospermic, exposed ex vivo during 4 hours to a wireless internet-c...

To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the direct impact of laptop use on human spermatozoa. Ex vivo exposure of human spermatozoa to a wireless internet-connected laptop decreased motility and induced DNA fragmentation by a nonthermal effect. 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.

Cite This Study
Avendaño C, Mata A, Sanchez Sarmiento CA, Doncel GF. (2012). Use of laptop computers connected to internet through Wi-Fi decreases human sperm motility and increases sperm DNA fragmentation. Fertil Steril. 97(1):39-45, 2012.
Show BibTeX
@article{c_2012_use_of_laptop_computers_1855,
  author = {Avendaño C and Mata A and Sanchez Sarmiento CA and Doncel GF.},
  title = {Use of laptop computers connected to internet through Wi-Fi decreases human sperm motility and increases sperm DNA fragmentation.},
  year = {2012},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22112647/},
}
PubMed: 22112647

Cited By (220 papers)

View all 220 citing papers on Semantic Scholar

Quick Questions About This Study

The study was a prospective in vitro study using semen from 29 healthy donors.
Motile sperm were divided into two aliquots, with one exposed to a Wi-Fi-connected laptop for four hours and the other kept as an unexposed control.
Exposed sperm showed a significant decrease in progressive motility and an increase in DNA fragmentation, while dead sperm levels did not differ.
The authors suggest a nonthermal effect caused the motility decrease and DNA fragmentation.
They recommend further in vitro and in vivo studies to prove the speculation that laptop use near the testes may reduce male fertility.