While harm from cell-phone rays has so far been lacking sufficient scientific proof, a US firm wants men to take no chances with radiation - at least when it comes to the most precious of male body parts.
Boxer shorts made with the use of thin silver textile “absorb radiation” will help “protect men’s reproductive organs and maintain fertility health,” according to their producer, Manhattan-based Belly Armor company.
It only launched its male underwear sales this week, but among the company’s earlier products are radiation-proof blankets, belly bands and tops for pregnant women and nursing mothers.
The company claims the fabric its goods are made of provides the same level of radiation shielding as “a 1/4-inch thick sheet of aluminum.”
The firm’s spokeswoman, Katherine Niefeld, told the New York Post, men were simply unaware of the risks associated with cellphone use.
“If you’re a guy, how are you going to know that putting your cellphone in your pocket will do things to your sperm,” Niefeld said.
She also explained the radiation-proof boxers were created in response to a 2007 Cleveland Clinic study on the way cell phone usage effects semen.
“Use of cell phones by men is associated with a decrease in semen quality,” the report published in Fertility and Sterility journal says. “The decrease in sperm count, motility, viability, and normal morphology is related to the duration of exposure to cell phones.”
And that’s not the only report warning of cell-phone exposure damaging male fertility.
A study was conducted at the University of Exeter and made public in June this year.
“Given the enormous scale of mobile phone use around the world, the potential role of this environmental exposure needs to be clarified. This study strongly suggests that being exposed to radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation from carrying mobiles in trouser pockets negatively affects sperm quality,” Dr. Fiona Mathews, who led that research, wrote.
Until the scientists clarify the risks, those unwilling to take them might feel it worth cashing out $49 for an item of anti-radiation underwear.