This post was submitted by Andrew D

As an awkward, developing teenager I fondly remember drifting asleep each night to the Q and A ramblings of KROQ’s Loveline.  Curious and scared callers professed their concerns and queries to Dr. Drew and Ricky Rackman (years before Adam Corolla) in hopes of receiving some clarification regarding their sexual quandaries. Like many boys my age, I worried about the important things like, did my penis measure up, was I still growing, would I be taller, more muscular, and was my sperm count as high as it could/should be? Thinking about the future and in an attempt to dispel a nasty little rumor that had been floating around, I placed a call to the good doctor and asked whether the Yellow 5 in Mountain Dew did in fact cause your sperm count to decrease. Much to my pleasure I was informed that to his knowledge, it has not been proven that Yellow 5 would have an adverse effect on my little swimmers. Whether I was more excited that I could still drink Mountain Dew and make babies someday or that I was just on the radio and would tell all my friends about it the next day, I’m not sure, but for that night, at a ripe fifteen years of age, all things in my world were well.

As a gay man in my late twenties, I can understand why the virility of one’s sperm count seems unimportant considering so many gay men never plan to have biological children in opposition to the seemingly more obvious (and some might say less selfish) route of adoption. However, in what I still consider my youth, I know that I still want children someday and I have not made the final decision on adoption versus biological conception. To be truthful, I’ve already, somewhat seriously, asked a few of my closest girl friends to be a surrogate for my partner and myself. As is the case, I was rather alarmed to receive the February 2010 issue of GQ magazine with a lengthy and informed article on the bodily damage our cell phones might be causing. I won’t spill all the beans because the article is definitely worth reading (the very well dressed and sexy men cover story is a bonus as well), but basically my adolescent teenage worry resurfaced and here I am telling you all about it.

The article espouses that the effects of cell phone radiation have been tested since the eighties by various groups, government and otherwise, and has consistently shown to have some effect on brain waves, in addition to having other adverse effects on the body. Basically it states that government agencies, mobile phone manufacturing companies, and other related companies that profit from the cellular phone infrastructure, have effectively succeeded in placing a gag on any negative testing results. Big surprise right? The government isn’t telling us everything and special interest groups are affecting this!!! Many of us already have some semblance of an understanding that excessive cell phone use may not be entirely healthy for us. It’s been said to cause everything from texting induced carpal tunnel, to self inflicted awkward social etiquette, to possible brain tumors or cellular damage. However, with our undeniable reliance upon these devices in this age of information and on-the-go, non-stop work ethic, it might actually be impossible to live without them. How many people do you know still have a land line in their home?

Essentially, the results of proper scientific studies on the full weight of cell phone induced damage would only confirm our already present suspicions and likely wouldn’t make us change our habits that drastically. If anything we can hope that it would lead manufacturers to develop safer products, but as we saw with the American auto industry it sometimes takes a disaster to force stubborn executives to spend money on research and development in order to survive in a rapidly evolving market. The old adage, “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it,” might not be the best words to live by in this case; we saw how well that worked with the economy.

In short, the article suggests that men should cease to keep their phones in their pockets due to the fact that the radio waves have been shown to decrease sperm count. Additionally using a headset instead of holding the phone to one’s ear will, at least, reduce direct exposure. The truly frightening mention in the article is the study that exposed radio waves directly to DNA structures showing an actual physical deterioration of DNA, thus suggesting genetic modification that could be passed onto a next generation. All for the convenience of using a cell phone. Is it worth it? Is it avoidable? I think it’s safe to say we could all benefit from using our cellular devices just a little less. For me, I can tell you that I will be very conscious about keeping my cell phone in my pocket any more than necessary, because someday I might send my little swimmers into the gene pool and make a mini me. Only time will tell.

---

First time here? See what we're all about... Get involved... Send us a tip!...

---