Guardian: Mobiles cut sperm count, says report

"Men who carry mobile phones in their trouser pockets may be at risk of damaging their sperm count, according to research by Hungarian scientists. . . .
Imre Fejes and colleagues from the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Szeged in Hungary studied the mobile phone use and sperm counts of 221 men over a 13-month period. They asked the men how long they had owned a mobile phone and for how many hours they carried it about their person in standby mode, as well as how long they spent in calls every day. They drew comparisons between those who used their phones a lot and non-users.
Heavy users of mobile phones had sperm counts that were up to 30% lower than those who did not have or use a mobile at all, the scientists say. They found that not only did using the phone affect a man's sperm count and the motility (speed of movement) of the sperm, but simply having it switched on in a pocket was enough to do damage. Mobile phones periodically but briefly transmit information to radio masts to establish contact.
"The prolonged use of cell phones may have negative effect on spermatogenesis and male fertility, that presumably deteriorates both concentration and motility," say the Hungarian team in the abstract produced for the conference. "Further controlled randomised studies are necessary to precise the correlation coefficients."
But the study is small and its findings do not sit well with the bulk of evidence so far on the health hazards of mobile phones.
No conclusive impact on sperm count or motility has been found by other scientists to date."