SEVERAL hundred men in the city have been asked to measure the amount of radiation they are subjected to on a normal day to see if emissions from computers, cell phones and other devices influence the quality of their sperm.

The project was set up by the Shanghai Family Planning Scientific Institute, which has recruited 200 volunteers for the study. Results of the survey should be published by the end of this year.

Half of the men in the study are sperm donors registered with the Shanghai Sperm Bank, and the other half have never signed up to donate, according to researcher Yuan Wei.

The men have been set into pairs, one donor and one non-donor who have similar ages and education backgrounds, for comparison.

"Every volunteer should take a radiation measuring machine with him for 24 hours to test the amount of radiation a man is subject to in his ordinary life, even when they're sleeping," said Yuan.

To date, about 50 volunteers have finished the test.

Radiation is common in people's daily life, especially for office workers who sit in front of their computers for hours at a time. In addition to computers, mobile phones, microwave ovens, televisions and other household electrical appliances give off some radiation.

A later test will look at the impact of pollution on sperm.

Bron: Shanghai Daily