The findings, published in the journal Reproductive BioMedicine, also found that 47 per cent of men who kept their phones within 50cm of their groin had sperm levels that were seriously affected, compared with just 11 per cent of the general population.
Professor Martha Dirnfeld, of the Technion University in Haifa, which carried out the study, said: "If you are trying for a baby and it doesn't happen within a year you might want to think of whether it could be your mobile phone habit that is to blame."
Professor Gedis Grudzinskas, a fertility consultant at St George's Hospital, London, said: "Men need to think about their wellbeing and try to stop being addicted to their phones."
- Daily Mail