Research by scientists at the New York State University reveals that laptops could cause sperm counts to fall. Lead researcher, Yefim Sheynkin, State University of New York at Stony Brook, notes, "Laptops can reach internal operating temperatures of over 70°C. They also produce direct local heat and require their users to sit with their thighs close together to balance the machine, trapping the scrotum. Both factors seriously affect fertility." The study ‘Increase in Scrotal Temperature in Laptop Computer Users’ was published in the UK journal Human Reproduction.

Twenty-nine volunteers between the ages 21 and 35 years took part in the study. The temperature of the men was tested with and without computer on their laps. The scrotal temperature increased significantly when the men had the laptops on their laps. "The body needs to maintain a proper testicular temperature for normal sperm production and development," says Sheynkin. He also warned that years of frequent laptop use "may cause irreversible or partially reversible changes in male reproductive function". Many other European fertility studies have shown that in general, an increase in scrotum temperature by 1°C can reduce sperm count by as much as 40 per cent.

Heat generation from laptops is a common phenomenon. A number of cases have been reported of laptops catching fire due to defective batteries or faulty AC dapters. Laptop users have been known to use pillows, books or other items on their laps to buffer the heat emitted from portable computers. It is worth noting that sperm counts in Western countries have been dropping for the past 20 years. But before hard-ware makers rush out to develop new laptop peripherals designed to protect fertility, Sheynkin has a word of caution.

”Devices or pads to protect the scrotum are not a bad idea, but these would need to be investigated and tested before putting out just another gadget for people to use", he opines. "Depending on the position people use to balance the laptop and how close their thighs are, the scrotum temperature can still go up", he adds. According to him, the only remedy is that men should place their laptops on the desk while using them.

Lead to anaemia
Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, have found that iron deficiency is linked to high levels of lead in blood. This is because iron and lead are biochemically very similar. “The absence of iron creates a nutrient deficit in the body that responds by grabbing more of the lead ingested by the child, or hanging onto the lead more strongly, once it is in the body”, explains Dr Bradman, associate director of the Centre for Children’s Environmental Health Research at University of California Berkeley’s School of Public Health. He further reports that insufficient iron levels in the blood may put children at higher risk for increased lead exposure. Researchers have found significantly higher lead levels in the blood of iron-deficient children — average blood lead level 5.6 microgrammes per decilitre (µg/dL), or in other words, one µg/dL higher than that in children with normal blood iron levels. Furthermore, in highly contaminated environments, irondeficient children had average blood lead levels 2.8 µg/dL higher than those in children having sufficient iron in their blood.

H S Kim and co-workers from the department of food science and nutrition, Soonchunhyang University, South Korea, conducted a study on the Korean lead workers in 2003 by measuring their dietary iron intake and bio-chemical indicators to test the hypothesis that a high blood lead level is associated with impaired iron function. Blood lead, haemoglobin and other haematological parameters were evaluated to find the levels of iron and lead in their blood. It was found that the workers had significantly lower haemoglobin and dietary iron intake compared to normal people. Iron deficiency was associated with high blood lead levels.

Similarly, A W Wolf and his co-workers, researchers at the Case Western Reserve University, USA, found in December 2003 that changes in blood lead levels corresponded closely with changes in iron levels. They suggested that prevention of iron deficiency was a rapid and effective means of checking high blood lead levels in infants.