For some of you who use laptops in a literal sense, namely with the laptop on top of your lap, you may want to consider new locales for your mobile computing device; or simply spread your legs.
A study recently conducted by researchers at the State University of New York at Stony Brook examined the effects of sitting positions and laptop use on scrotal temperatures. In an article published in the Journal of Fertility and Sterility, the researchers detailed their work, which involved 29 healthy male participants and studied the impact that laptop use and associated sitting behaviors have on male infertility.
Expanding upon a study conducted by Stony Brook researchers in 2004, the group monitored the rise in scrotal temperatures among the study participants in several scenarios.
Each of the participants were involved in three sessions lasting 60 minutes, during which their left and right scrotal temperatures were recorded automatically using an electronic thermometer and data logger.
In one session, participants sat in a chair with a working laptop directly on their lap with their legs close together.
The next session involved the participants using a lap shield positioned between the laptop and the participant’s lap to mitigate any direct heat contact, again in a similar position. During the last session, the participants were told to maintain a 70 degree spread between their legs with a working laptop and lap shield on their lap.
From the data collected, the researchers found that in each of the sessions there was a significant increase in scrotal temperature among all of the participants.
The mean scrotal temperature among the participants increased the greatest when participants were directly exposed to the laptop; during the course of the first session, scrotal temperatures increased by about 2.5°C from 34°C at the start of the session to 36.5°C at the end. The mean temperature rose by a smaller extent when the participants used the lap shield, with temperatures increasing by slightly over 2°C.
However, when the participants had their legs separated, scrotal temperatures increased by less than 1.5°C. Furthermore, there was a significant difference in scrotal temperatures between having the legs separated in the third session and having the legs closed in the first two sessions throughout comparable windows of time.
Scrotal temperatures rose quickly when participants had their legs together and then began to level off towards the end of the sessions, whereas temperatures rose more slowly when participants had their legs separated.
In a similar study conducted by one of the authors of the original study and other researchers in 2004, the group found that laptop use while keeping one’s legs together did increase scrotal temperatures, They also found that retaining that position for a similar length of time without a laptop also presented similar results in scrotal temperatures with the overall increase being somewhat lower. Some of the conclusions from that study echoed the findings of this study, which attributed much of the scrotal temperature increase and subsequent risk of infertility to sitting posture.
The male human body usually attempts to keep testicular temperatures somewhat lower than the normal body temperature of 37°C. The location of the testicles in the scrotum permits them to maintain a lower temperature and adjust their proximity to the warmth of the human body depending on environmental temperatures. Lower temperatures are favorable for the fast production of sperm cells such that warmer conditions cause irregular production and lower an individual’s sperm count.
Repeated exposure to conditions that override the scrotum’s ability to maintain lower temperatures for the testicles, such as excessively warm work conditions or prolonged use of laptops while keeping one’s legs together, presents fertility problems. Long-term exposure may mean more permanent damage to the male reproductive system.
For those of you who might be reading these effects in reverse and contemplate them as something positive, keep in mind that while these results have implications about infertility, you should not attempt to confirm this through your own experiments.
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