A computer with a wireless Internet connection can reduce sperm quality, not because of heat on a user's lap as commonly believed, but because of radiation, a new study published on MyHealthNewsDaily suggests.

The study was published online Nov. 23 in the journal, "Fertility and Sterility".

A team of scientists in Argentina and Virginia used semen samples from 29 healthy men, whose average age was 34. The laptop was set to download and upload information for four hours, making the wireless connection active throughout the study. As constant, the temperature under the laptop was set at 77 degrees.

The findings showed that the sperm cells observed beneath a laptop with active wi-fi had less motility and more DNA damage than sperm placed in another room, away from electronic devices but kept at the same temperature.

Sperm motility and healthy DNA are vital in fertilizing a woman's egg cell.

The findings hinted the radiation from the laptop was harmful to sperm condition. In contrast to other cells in the human body, sperm cells' DNA is highly condensed into a small area, making them more vulnerable to radiation than other human cells.

Wireless Internet connections use radio-frequency electromagnetic waves, causing subtle radiation effects to the environment. The study even found that radiation coming from a laptop wirelessly connected to the Internet was at least three times higher than an unconnected laptop, with radiation that is seven to 15 times higher in a general setting.

When it comes to the percentage of sperm that were dead at the end of the experiment, the study noted no significant difference in sperm samples set beneath laptops and those kept away from devices.

"We speculate that keeping a laptop connected wirelessly to the Internet on the lap near the testes may result in decreased male fertility," the researchers wrote in their conclusion.