Scientists question if wi-fi laptops can damage sperm
By Michelle Roberts
Health reporter, BBC News

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."

Hi All,

Just wanna share my unpleasant experience with CoSE yesterday for my 40k Major service. My booking service time is 8.15am 30/11/2011. I reached there at 7.45am and i'm lucky enough that the customer service representative (she called Leen) at the reception counter allowed me to take my service earlier as it's not so crowded at that time. (Called her A)She was not really friendly looking and the attitude towards to me was cold, so fine thought maybe she's having PMS or something. She did not explain whats included for the ProCare Smart Package for 40k service until i asked her what's included, then i asked her not to replace my existing manual gear oil (redline oil) and spark plug (denso iridium), of course she will say it will affected my car blah blah, then i still insisted her to not to replace those, so she wrote it down in the service details and some of my defective parts need to replace (as shown on the 1st picture).



so finally settled the front stuff then i proceed to the waiting lounge at the ground floor, brought my laptop to work and to kill the time. Around 9.15am, just curious whats the progress and try to look out the window at the bay, did not see my car in the bay, so i'm curious is it still at the reception car park so i walked there and guess what, my car is still exactly at the same spot that i parked this morning without an inch moved. 1st strike. Fine, i'll just patiently wait until 10am if the car is still there then only look for them. So i went up to the canteen to continue monitoring at the bay. Around near to 10am, i finally saw my car is driving in there to start serving, relieved, but i still not happy why i need to come early and yet 10am only start serving my car. Anyway, i'm starting to monitor them to check whether they really change my spark plug or not, guess what, i saw them really changing my spark plug in my naked eyes. 2nd strike! i quickly pack up my laptop and stuff and ran down to the waiting lounge and ask the staff to help me to check are they really change the spark plug for me, so a malay lady staff from the payment counter helped me to walk in the bay to check for me, lets called her B. So B came back and told me they actually just checking whether the condition or not, they did not change it for me. Not fully relieved though, coz i personally saw them changing it with the new one. So i have to wait until the invoice come only i can confirm with it. So i went back to the canteen to continue monitoring them.

Until 12.45pm, finally my car finished servicing and about to drive it to the reception car park, i went down to payment counter waiting to make payment. Guess what again, my car key is at the counter but my invoice is not generate yet, a malay lady C told me to wait a bit until the invoice here then only can make payment. i got appointment at 1.30pm and also since i know they will have a lunch break at 1pm, i asked C to quickly help me to ask them to generate quickly before 1, she kindly help me to call A to get the invoice. and i still have to wait until 1.45pm only saw A coming to show the invoice and i have to push my appointment time. But that's the worst, 3rd STRIKE!



they replaced my spark plug! i pointed that spark plug to A! Then she took the invoice and went in to the office to check. i have no time for this thing and at the same time i'm pissed. Luckily i have a little time enough to cool down myself before she came back at 2.10pm. Coz I can't think of any solution for this since what its done is done. Guess what again, she told my existing spark plug the head is very dark have to change.



dark right? start to notice something wrong? i'll show u guys something before i finish the story. 

ok fine, i dont want to argue about this coz i don't have time and what is done is done, i made a step back and pay for it. This will be my last service in this CoSE. After that i cancelled my appointment and drive to EA to clarify one thing.

<-- this is new pack iridium from EA.

<-- the left side is the original proton stock NGK spark plug, the right side is the dark one which A gave it back to me, u notice something wrong?

there's 2 things something wrong with that dark one and i'm planning to email this matter to SZ and yes i replaced a new iridium from EA (i'm broke now). So guys, what do you think about it? but before i do that, i need some advise from you guys first.