# Does sperm die when it makes contact with air?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sperm-die-when-it-makes-contact-with-air/51233>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [January 22, 2001, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sperm-die-when-it-makes-contact-with-air/51233 "2001-01-22T06:42:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Amazing\_Tiki\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazing\_Tiki\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazing_Tiki_God)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sperm-die-when-it-makes-contact-with-air/51233/1 "2001-01-22T06:42:32Z")

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I’m sitting here at work with a co-worker (who happens to be crackhead) and she just asked a question. Does sperm die the instant it makes contact with the air? I say no it doesn’t because well look at sperm donors. Do they go into some vacuum sealed rrom to make their contributions? No I don’t think so. Help prove me right!

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**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sperm-die-when-it-makes-contact-with-air/51233/2 "2001-01-22T07:13:39Z")

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I just typed “+sperm +air +die” and I got a lot of hits from advice sites. The consensus is that sperm will survive for several hours as long as it remains in a warm moist environment, so you should always assume that moist semen contains living sperm.

[http://www.teenadviceonline.org/archive/11779.html](http://www.teenadviceonline.org/archive/11779.html)

[http://www.sarilocker.com/cur\_sex\_advice.html](http://www.sarilocker.com/cur_sex_advice.html)

[http://www.pphouston.org/answers1.htm](http://www.pphouston.org/answers1.htm)

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**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sperm-die-when-it-makes-contact-with-air/51233/3 "2001-01-22T12:25:34Z")

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i hope not, otherwise i’ve been responsible for trillions of sperm deaths in my lifetime 🙂

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**Author:** ![kremit334](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@kremit334](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kremit334)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sperm-die-when-it-makes-contact-with-air/51233/4 "2001-01-22T12:37:52Z")

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Gees i dont know, but I do know you would like to find out sometime wouldnt you 🙂