Male fertility could be damaged by heated seats

Men pondering prospective fatherhood should switch off their car's heated seats according to new research that suggests using warmed-up seats can seriously affect male fertility.

Previous studies have suggested that male fertility may be affected by long-term wearing of tight underpants and trousers, and use of laptop computers, because of raised temperatures in the scrotum.

Raising scrotal temperature beyond the natural 35.5 degrees (slightly below body temperature for the rest of a man's body) affects sperm production, and can damage the quality of the sperm and its swimming ability. Heated car seats typically raise scrotal temperatures to 37.3 degrees, researchers found, with one subject heated to 39.7 degrees.