Do you keep your cell phone in your pocket? I'm sure most of us do...

[theking]

Is it safe to keep your cellphone in your pocket? Experts explain the risks and what to do if you're worried.

Are there any other health concerns about where you carry your cellphone?
While a few animal studies have suggested that high levels of cellphone radiation could damage the lining of the uterus, eggs, ovarian follicles and embryos and may even harm fetal development, none of these findings have been replicated in humans.

The more pressing concern, according to Davis and other experts, is male fertility. Research shows that high levels of smartphone radiation can “damage the engines of the sperm, called the mitochondria,” explains Davis. “They die three times faster than natural.”

A 13-year study on adult men conducted in Switzerland suggested that cellphone use may be linked to a lower concentration of sperm and lower sperm count. Davis suspects that sperm are particularly vulnerable to the effects of cellphone radiation because “the highest absorption in the body will be into the male reproductive organs” — and the testes in particular — “because there is nothing to protect them.”

Although male infertility is on the rise, there’s simply not enough evidence yet to say whether cellphone radiation is a factor in this trend, much less a cause.

How can you reduce any possible risks?

Some experts say you should keep your smartphone as far away from your body as possible — as often as possible — to reduce potential risks, while others say you don’t need to worry.

Hatch, who studied this exact question — whether keeping a cellphone in a pocket harms male fertility — isn’t terribly concerned. “The important thing is that we really found no association between keeping a phone in one’s front pocket versus elsewhere,” says Hatch. “More research is potentially warranted, but I don’t think there’s a definitive answer.”

If you’re concerned, there are some steps you can take. “Radiation follows the inverse square law: When you double your distance from the radiation, you reduce your exposure by three-quarters,” Dr. Rob Brown, a radiologist and vice president of scientific research and clinical affairs at Environmental Health Trust, tells Yahoo Life. “When your phone is in your pocket, you’re exposed to much more radiation than from the Wi-Fi router across the room or the cellphone tower across the street.”

Brown notes that clothing won’t help, because, unlike ultraviolet radiation from the sun, cellphone radiation can penetrate clothing. Still, finding a way to keep your phone farther away from you will reduce any possible risks.

“The safest way to carry a phone is off,” Brown says. “That may not be functional for many people, but try to keep it off the body, meaning in a fanny pack or murse for men” and in a purse or another bag for women.

Brown and Davis advise keeping phones off when possible, or at least in airplane mode with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi off, which reduces the amount of radiation the device emits, because it’s transmitting fewer electromagneti c signals.