傲文世界

图片说明（危险工作：家务琐事可能降低男子生育能力）

一项研究发现，家务琐事（如吸尘、使用微波炉）可能会降低男子生育的几率。

研究者们让男士志愿者接触由充电设备驱动的电磁场，如冰箱、吸尘器，结果发现这种接触（是否一定是高强度的？）会使精子质量降低一倍。

加州斯坦福大学生育专家李德鲲（音译）博士称，他的工作也为电器和男子生育能力降低之间有关这一现象提供了第一证据。他说：“我建议男子和那些想怀孩子的夫妻应尽量避免接触电磁场。但我并不是说你就不要使用微波炉了，而是说你可以把微波炉打开，之后离开，等（食物加热）完成后再返回。让那些由电驱动的东西远离你的身体。”

这项研究招募了148位来自上海精子库的捐献者。测试显示其中有76人精子的流动性、形状和数量不太好，而72人精子质量不错。这些志愿者不包含那些在高温下工作的人、或经常与对精子有损坏影响的化学品（如溶剂、农药、）接触的人。

他们发现，志愿者中有一半人的峰值指数在0.16 microtesla（磁场强度感应指标）以上，这些人比那些低于这个峰值的人的精子质量要低。

李博士的团队还透露，精子质量下降还和接触高强度的磁场机会成比例。

“这是首次就电磁场和人类精子质量下降之间的关系进行的研究。这也许能从逻辑上解释为什么自上世纪以来男子精子质量在下降的原因。”

尽管这项研究并没有深究到底是什么产生了电磁场，但电器，尤其是那些装有电动机的电器，如吹风机就会产生高频率的磁场。

在以往的研究中（还发现），过量饮酒、抽烟、饮食不良、吸毒、肥胖都是导致男子精子数量减少的元凶。

英国生育学会的Allan Pacey博士认为：我相信这也许有些关系。如果这些发现在更多的研究中被一再证实，那么我们就应该开始严肃地思考一下该如何避免接触这些东西了。”来源

Sorry darling, I can’t do the vacuuming. It might damage my sperm count: The best excuse yet for men not to do the housework…

By Nic Fleming  Last updated at 10:59 AM on 15th November 2009

It’s the get-out clause work-shy husbands have been praying for for years.

A study has found that household chores – including using a vacuum cleaner or microwave oven – could reduce a man’s chances of having children.

Researchers exposed male volunteers to electromagnetic fields – high doses of which are produced by all electrically charged objects, including refrigerators and vacuum cleaners – and found such exposure could double the risk of having poor-quality sperm.

Fertility expert Dr De-Kun Li said his work provides the first evidence of a link between electrical goods and declining male fertility.

Dr Li, of Stanford University, California, said: ‘I would advise men and couples trying for a baby to reduce their exposure to electromagnetic fields as much as possible.

‘I’m not saying you shouldn’t use a microwave but it makes sense to turn it on, then move away and go back when it is done. Keep devices, especially those with electric motors, away from the body.’

The study recruited 148 donors at a sperm bank in Shanghai. Tests showed that 76 had poor sperm mobility, shape or count, while 72 had good-quality sperm.

Those volunteers whose job involved working with high temperatures or being exposed to chemicals linked to sperm damage such as solvents and pesticides were excluded.

Participants were asked to wear meters which took readings of magnetic fields every four seconds for 24 hours on days they considered ‘typical’.

They found that the half of the group who had peak readings above 0.16 microtesla – a measure of magnetic field strength – were twice as likely to have low sperm quality as those with readings below this level.

Dr Li’s team also revealed that the chances of having poor sperm quality increased as the time exposed to higher-strength magnetic fields rose.

He said of the research, due to be published in January in the journal Reproductive Toxicology:

 ‘This is the first study to show a link between measured electromagnetic fields and poor semen quality in humans, which may provide a logical explanation for why we have seen reductions in sperm quality in men over the past century.’

Although the study did not look at what was producing the magnetic fields, electrical appliances – especially those containing motors such as hairdryers – produce high frequencies and therefore strong magnetic fields.

In previous studies, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, a poor diet, drug use and obesity have all been shown to reduce sperm count.

Dr Allan Pacey, of the British Fertility Society and a fertility researcher at Sheffield University, said: ‘I believe there might be something in it.

 ‘If these results are repeated in a bigger study, we need to start thinking seriously about promoting advice about avoiding exposure.’