Have you ever wondered if WiFi or mobile phones are having an impact on your health? Associate Professor Geoff De Iuliis has been researching this for nearly 20 years.

He is specifically interested in what radiation from wireless devices does to sperm.

Associate Professor De Iuliis says, “There has been some unease around our exposure to these devices, especially since they have become ubiquitous for children.”

He says that since 5G was introduced – which uses higher frequencies (electro-magnetic energy) for higher data bandwidth – these concerns have been reignited.

Associate Professor De Iuliis says that most of the older research into this type of radiation involves poorly designed studies, providing very little insights into how damage may occur.

Associate Professor De Iuliis says the key thing to understand is that radio waves and microwaves – including 5G – are classified as non-ionising radiation. This type of radiation doesn’t have the power to directly disrupt the molecules in our cells directly.

Nonetheless Associate Professor De Iuliis says that most of the research into this type of radiation involves poorly designed studies and very little mechanistic data or insights.

He says that while non-ionising radiation cannot directly damage molecules within sperm, his own experiments have shown that 16 hours of exposure of roughly the maximum power output of a mobile phone, can cause a loss of sperm motility.

When you ramp that up to 5 – 10 times the normal output of a mobile phone over 16 – 21 hours, you see elevated oxidative stress that leads to DNA damage.

“Our experiments have shown that non-ionising electromagnetic energy can create oxidative stress, a type of chemical imbalance that sperm are uniquely susceptible to. Interestingly, other cells in the body are unchanged by the same exposures” says Associate Professor De Iuliis.

His research has led him to explore antioxidant factors that provide protection from this oxidative stress.

He has identified a group of specific antioxidants that appear to protect sperm from motility loss, oxidative stress and the subsequent DNA damage that occurs specifically from high levels of exposure to non-ionising radiation. This is also importantly leading to a better understanding of fundamental science, much of which is still a mystery.

He is now researching the impact of these molecules in vivo.