Taking common painkillers including paracetamol during pregnancy could make their grandchildren infertile, research suggests.
Previous studies have found that the drug ibuprofen could harm the fertility of girls.
Women are advised to avoid the medication during pregnancy, and told that if pain relief is needed, they should take paracetamol for as little time as possible.
But the new study found that both drugs could harm future fertility of subsequent offspring – with an impact on boys as well as girls. Estimates suggest around one in three will take such drugs during pregnancy. The study found that the medication made marks on the DNA, with permanent consequences.
Ovaries exposed to paracetamol for one week had more than 40 per cent fewer egg-producing cells. After ibuprofen exposure, the number of cells was almost halved. And testicular tissue exposed to painkillers in a culture dish had around a quarter fewer sperm-producing cells after exposure to paracetamol or ibuprofen.
Scientists at the University of Edinburgh looked at the effects of paracetamol and ibuprofen on samples of human fetal testes and ovaries. They found similar effects using several different experimental approaches, including lab tests on human tissue samples and animal studies. Human tissues exposed to either drug for one week in a dish had reduced numbers of cells that give rise to sperm and eggs, called germ cells, the study found.
