Laptop Use Can Endanger Your Fertility in as Little as 10 Minutes

A study has uncovered information that may be alarming to laptop users. Using your laptop on your lap, as the product is designed to be used, can lead to scrotal damage within 10 to 15 minutes. The study, published in the medical journal Fertility and Sterility, measured the heating effects of laptops on 29 men.

Researchers used temperature sensors on the scrotums of the 29 men, then placed the laptop computers on their laps. It did not take long for the temperature to rise to levels that are known to damage sperm production.

After 10 to 15 minutes of laptop use, the damage was observed. This is alarming, as countless laptop users often place the laptop on their laps for hours at a time.

When testicles heat up too much, sperm production suffers. Optimally, they should remain a degree or two below body temperature. This is especially important if you are trying to conceive a child.

Laptop use heats up testes at a rate of 2.5 Celsius per hour. This means that hours of daily use can really start wreaking havoc on the testicles, and inhibit sperm production to a very large degree.

Yelim Sheynkin, a urologist at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, led the study. He was concerned about the millions of laptop users worldwide, and highlighted the fact that it is hard to notice the temperature change during laptop use.

‘Millions and millions of men are using laptops now, especially those in the reproductive age range,’ he said. ‘Within 10 or 15 minutes their scrotal temperature is already above what we consider safe, but they don’t feel it.’

Even laptop cooling pads didn’t help, the study found. The biggest factor was, surprisingly, your leg position. Computing while widely spreading your legs was found to dissipate heat most efficiently, but it would be wise to simply use a table or other hard surface instead of subjecting your genitals to damage.

It is a shame that another fertility-killer has been identified, especially after the findings that bisphenol a (BPA) was a danger to reproductive health.

Now that the conclusions of this study have hit the mainstream news, laptop manufacturers will be forced to answer to their customers. If enough consumers voice their frustration with these companies, changes will certainly be made.

Additional sources:
Telegraph

Explore More:

This article first appeared at Natural Society, an excellent resource for health news and vaccine information.