Description

Phenol is a colorless-to-white solid when pure. Commercial phenol is a liquid that evaporates more slowly than water.

Phenol has a distinct odor that is sickeningly sweet and tarry.

Uses

• Manufacturing

Phenol is both a manufactured chemical and produced naturally. Large amounts of phenol are produced in the United States.

• Consumer products

Phenol is used to make plastics. Phenol is also used as a disinfectant in household cleaning products and in consumer products such as:

• mouthwashes
• gargles
• throat sprays

Sources

Phenol can be found in air and water after release from the manufacture, use, and disposal of products containing phenol. Phenol in soil is likely to move to groundwater.

Break down

• Air

Phenol is quickly broken down in the air, usually within 1–2 days.

• Water

Phenol may persist in water for a week or more.

• Soil

Phenol that remains in soil may be broken down by bacteria or other microorganisms.

Air

The primary way you can be exposed to phenol is by breathing air containing it. Releases of phenol into the air occur from:

•  industries using or manufacturing phenol
• automobile exhaust
• cigarette smoke, and
• wood burning

Recent data on levels of phenol in air are lacking.

Water and soil

Phenol has been detected in surface waters, rainwater, sediments, drinking water, groundwater, industrial and urban runoff, and at hazardous waste sites. Phenol in soil is likely to move to groundwater.

Workplace

Workers in the following industries may be exposed to phenol:

• petroleum industry
• manufacture of nylon, epoxy resins and polycarbonates, herbicides, wood preservatives, hydraulic fluids, heavy-duty surfactants, lube-oil additives, tank linings and coatings, and intermediates for plasticizers and other specialty chemicals

Exposure occurs through breathing and dermal contact with contaminated air or by skin contact with products containing phenol.

Food

Low levels of phenol have been found in foods such as smoked summer sausage, smoked pork belly, mountain cheese, fried bacon, fried chicken, and black fermented tea.

Consumer products

Dermal contact can occur through the use of general disinfectants and ointments containing phenol.

Ingestion can occur through the use of products such as throat lozenges or sore throat sprays that contain phenol.

Enter your body

• Inhalation

When you breathe air containing phenol, most of the phenol will rapidly enter your body through your lungs.

• Ingestion

Phenol in food or water may also rapidly enter your body through the digestive tract.

• Dermal contact

A significant amount may enter through your skin when you come into contact with phenol vapor, liquid phenol or liquids containing phenol.

Leave your body

Once in your body, phenol is transformed into other chemicals called metabolites. Most of these other chemicals leave your body in the urine within few days.

Workers

• Inhalation/ dermal

Long-term exposure to phenol at work has been associated with cardiovascular disease, but the workers were also exposed to other chemicals at the same time.

General population

• Oral

Ingestion of liquid products containing concentrated phenol can cause serious gastrointestinal damage and even death.

General population

• Dermal

Application of concentrated phenol to the skin can cause severe skin damage.

Laboratory animals

• Inhalation

Short-term exposure to high levels of phenol has caused irritation of the respiratory tract and muscle twitching in animals.

Longer-term exposure to high levels of phenol caused damaged to the heart, kidneys, liver, and lungs in animals.

Laboratory animals

• Oral

Drinking water with extremely high concentrations of phenol has caused muscle tremors, difficulty walking, and death in animals.

Laboratory animals

• Dermal
   

Short-term application of phenol to the skin has produced blisters and burns in animals.

Cancer

There is no evidence that phenol causes cancer in humans.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the EPA determined that phenol is not classifiable as to human carcinogenicity.

Effects in children

Vomiting and lethargy were the main symptoms observed in children following accidental ingestion of a disinfectant containing phenol. We do not know whether children would be more sensitive than adults to the effects of phenol.

Birth defects

Two studies of women exposed to phenol and other chemicals during pregnancy did not provide evidence of birth defects.

Some birth defects have been observed in animals born to females exposed to phenol during pregnancy. This generally occurred at exposure levels that were also toxic to the mothers.

Breast milk

There is no information on levels of phenol in human breast milk.

Tobacco smoke

Phenol is a component of tobacco smoke. Avoid smoking in enclosed spaces like inside the home or car in order to limit exposure to children and other family members.

Consumer products

Household products and over-the-counter medications containing phenol should be stored out of the reach of young children to prevent accidental poisonings and skin burns.

Detecting exposure

Phenol can be measured in blood and urine. Phenol is a normal constituent of human urine.

Measuring exposure

A higher-than-normal concentration of phenol in the urine may suggest recent exposure to phenol or to substances that are converted to phenol in the body.

The detection of phenol and/or its metabolites in your urine cannot be used to predict the kind of health effects that might develop from that exposure.

Drinking water

The EPA has determined that exposure to phenol in drinking water at a concentration of 6 milligrams per liter (mg/L) for up to 10 days is not expected to cause any adverse effects in a child.

The EPA has determined that lifetime exposure to 2 mg/L phenol in drinking water is not expected to cause any adverse effects.

Bottled water

The FDA has determined that the phenol concentration in bottled drinking water should not exceed 0.001 mg/L.

Workplace air

OSHA set a legal limit of 5 parts per million (ppm) phenol in air averaged over an 8-hour work day.