Recent reports suggest that mobile phone radiation may
diminish male fertility. However, the effects of this radiation on
human spermatozoa are largely unknown. The present study
examined effects of the radiation on induction of apoptosisrelated
properties in human spermatozoa. Ejaculated, densitypurified,
highly motile human spermatozoa were exposed to
mobile phone radiation at specific absorption rates (SARs) of
2.0 and 5.7 W/kg. At various times after exposure, flow
cytometry was used to examine caspase 3 activity, externalization
of phosphatidylserine (PS), induction of DNA strand breaks, and generation of reactive oxygen species. Mobile phone radiation had no statistically significant effect on any of the parameters studied. This suggests that the impairment of fertility reported in some studies was not caused by the induction of apoptosis in spermatozoa.This research was funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF), Pretoria, South Africa (Grant No: 2054206), NRF mobility fund, the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), Pretoria, South Africa and the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), Helsinki, Finland
