Effects of microwave electromagnetic radiations emitted from common Wi-Fi routers on rats’ sperm count and motility

Background:  Wi-Fi allows electronic devices such as laptops to exchange data or connect to a network resource. The main goal of this study was to assess the bioeffects of short term exposure to 2.4 GHz microwave radiation emitted from a common Wi-Fi router on sperm quality. Materials and Methods: Male Wistar rats were divided into 7 groups; I, sham exposed 4 h/day for 7days at 30 cm from the router. II, exposed for 2 h/day for 7days at 30 cm and sacrificed after 53 days. The exposure protocols for groups III to VII were 2h – 30 cm, 2h – 60 cm, 4 h – 30 cm, 4 h- 60 cm, 4 h – 30 cm (no data exchange) respectively. Rats in all the groups except group II, were sacrificed immediately after exposure and basic parameters of testicles weight, sperm motility, morphology, count, and DNA fragmentation were studied. Non-parametric tests were used to detect statistically significant differences between different groups. Results: Findings of this study showed statistically significant differences between the relative frequency of progressive and rapid progressive sperms in sham exposed rats compared to those of exposure groups. The testicles weight, DNA fragmentation of sperms and the frequency of sperms with normal morphology were not affected by Wi-Fi radiation. However, statistically significant differences between sperm count of the sham exposed rats compared to those of exposure group were observed. Conclusion: Exposure to microwave radiation emitted from Wi-Fi routers affects sperm parameters such as count and motility which are among the key parameters determining the chance of conceiving.