CLEVELAND, OH — Although women are often accused of talking too much – especially on the telephone – it looks like men who have frequent, long cell phone conversations are the ones who might want to consider finding a different way to communicate. After all, the quality of their sperm may well depend on it. According to a recent study at the Cleveland Clinic, which specializes in fertility issues, the more time a man spends on his cell phone, the lower their sperm count and more likely it was to contain deformed sperm.

Published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, the preliminary study focused on 361 patients and adds fuel to arguments concerning potential ill effects related to the use of not merely cell phones but other wireless devices, as well.

According to Reuters, extended use of mobile phones has been associated in some studies with greater brain tumor risk. Other studies, however, have not returned the same findings, although questions remain about the effect of long-term exposure to electromagnetic energy emitted by mobile devices. Some contend that DNA can suffer harm from repeated and extended contact with such energy sources.

“Our results show a strong association of cell phone use with decreased semen quality,” lead researcher Dr. Ashok Agarwal explained to Reuters Health. “However, they do not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.”

While the exact mechanism by which the sperm may be suffering injury is not yet known, Agarwal says that “We infer from our results that heavy cell phone use… is associated with lower sperm quality,” based upon information provided by those involved with the yearlong study.

Men who admitted to using their cell phones for more than four hours each day had the lowest average sperm count, as well as fewer viable sperm.

Agarwal and colleagues are delving further into the question of what exactly is making this happen with two other studies, one of which involves exposing semen samples to electromagnetic radiation from cell phones. The other study will attempt to replicate the previous one with a larger group of men and will include collecting information about occupational exposures and lifestyle behavior.