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A
new study has found couples where the man has high levels of paracetamol in his
urine take longer to conceive
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A common
painkiller could impair a man's fertility, experts have warned.
Paracetamol,
which is also known as acetaminophen and sold under the brand name Tylenol in
the US and Panadol in the UK, has been linked to infertility, new research
suggests.
Couples
where the male partner had high levels of the drug in his urine took longer to
conceive, according to scientists at the National Institutes of Health.
That was
compared to men who had lower levels of the compound in their system.
Paracetamol
is a non-prescription drug widely used as a pain reliever and to reduce fever.
It is
also one of the compounds produced when the body breaks down aniline, a
chemical used to make rubber, pesticides, and coloring agents used in food,
cosmetics and clothing.
Dr
Melissa Smarr, the study's first author, from NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said: 'At this point,
our findings need to be corroborated by future research, and there is no cause
for alarm.'
Dr Smarr
explained that the high levels of paracetamol in the urine of certain men, who
participated in the study, were unlikely to result from taking the painkillers
alone.
The
findings, she said, are more consistent with those seen from environmental
exposure, either to aniline or paracetamol, or a combination of the two.
But, she
said, the findings could have implications for the amount of paracetamol
exposure that is deemed acceptable.
Researchers
led by Dr Smarr analyzed data from the Longditudinal Investigation of Fertility
and the Environment (LIFE) study, established to examine how lifestyle and
exposure to environmental chemicals may affect fertility.
The LIFE
study encompasses fertility data from 501 couples enrolled in four countries in
Michigan and 12 counties in Texas, from 2005 to 2009.
The
women taking part ranged in age from 18 to 44, and the men were older than 18.
Each
participant provided a single urine sample when they joined the study, which
was analyzed to measure the concentration of paracetamol.
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Couples in which the males had high levels of
paracetamol - more than 73.5 ng/ml - were 35 per cent less likely to conceive,
compared with those couples where the male had low levels - less than 5.4 ng/ml
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Women had a higher average level of the drug in their urine, than men.
But,
researchers noted a high level of paracetamol in a woman's system was not
linked to any reduced chances of becoming pregnant.
However,
couples in which the males had high levels of paracetamol - more than 73.5
ng/ml - were 35 per cent less likely to conceive, compared with those couples
where the male had low levels - less than 5.4 ng/ml.
The
researchers stressed that their findings need to be confirmed by larger studies
that can better identify the sources of paracetamol, the duration of time the
participants are exposed, and the amount of the compound to which they are
exposed.
The
findings are published online in Human Reproduction.
Source: mailonline
Labels: Infertility, National Institutes of Health study found paracetamol linked to infertility, Panadol, Paracetamol, Tylenol
