Carbolic acid toxicity

Carbolic acid. Toxic by ingestion or through skin. Corrosive. Death generally due to respiratory depression. Renal damage can occur. Oesophageal stricture may be produced by drinking. Lethal dose adult 10-30 g. 

Phenol is an important chemical, from the point of its industrial and commercial applications, but is of great environmental apprehension due to its toxicity. Its chemical name is hydroxybenzene which is more acidic compared to aliphatic alcohols hence is also known as carbolic acid [4]. At ambient temperature and pressure it is a hygroscopic crystalline solid, which is colourless when pure [5] but... 

Penicillin, in regard to infections with sensitive microbes, appears to have some advantages over the well-known chemical antiseptics. A good sample will inhibit staphylococci, Streptococcus pyogenes and pneumococcus in a dilution of 1 in 800. It is therefore a more powerful inhibitory agent than is carbolic acid and... it is non-irritant and non-toxic. 

The substance class of microbicidally active phenol derivatives, in short phenolics, was also developed. Hundreds of different derivatives were isolated, synthesized and investigated with the aim of finding phenol derivatives which were more effective and at the same time less toxic and less irritating to the skin than the parent chemical carbolic acid. Another objective was to find microbicidal phenol derivatives with chemico-physical properties which make them suitable for the protection of materials. This development, which can now be considered as completed, provided knowledge on the relationship between structure and effectiveness and on the mechanism of action of phenol derivatives. This is summarized in the following. 

Phenol itself was formerly known as carbolic acid. It forms colorless needles (m.p. 41°C), has a characteristic odor, and is somewhat soluble in water. Aqueous solutions of it (or its methyl-substituted derivatives) are applied as disinfectants, but its main use is for the preparation of polymers (phenolic resins Section 22-6). Pure phenol causes severe skin bums and is toxic deaths have been reported from the ingestion of as little as 1 g. Fatal poisoning may also result from absorption through the skin. 

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