Key Points

Fire

• Flammable
• Incompatible with acids, calcium hypochlorite, caustics and strong oxidising agents
• Mixtures of phenol and sodium nitrite or organic liquids are explosive
• Emits acrid smoke of irritating and flammable vapours when heated to decomposition
• In the event of a fire involving phenol, use fine water spray and liquid-tight protective clothing with breathing apparatus

Health

• Phenol is rapidly absorbed following inhalation, ingestion and through the skin
• Toxic, harmful and corrosive
• Local effects are observed following inhalation (wheezing, cough), ingestion (stomach upsets) and skin exposure (inflammation, reddening of skin)
• Long-term exposure via inhalation may cause loss of appetite, excess saliva production, liver and kidney damage and ingestion may cause stomach upsets, mouth ulcers, sore throat and heart effects
• There is no convincing evidence that phenol can cause cancer in humans

Environment

• Avoid release into the environment
• Inform Environment Agency of substantial release incidents

All sections are available to download in PDF format.

 

• Phenol - Full Document (PDF, 232 KB)
  HPA Compendium of Chemical Hazards Phenol, version 4, 2011. This document will be reviewed not later than 3 years or sooner if substantive evidence becomes available.
  Added/updated: 13 January 2012
  
• General Information - Phenol (PDF, 48 KB)
  Phenol General information
  Added/updated: 30 March 2011
  
• Incident Management - Phenol (PDF, 158 KB)
  Phenol Incident management, version 4, 2011. This document will be reviewed not later than 3 years or sooner if substantive evidence becomes available.
  Added/updated: 13 January 2012
  
• Toxicological Overview - Phenol (PDF, 52 KB)
  Phenol - Toxicological overview, version 2, 2007.
  Added/updated: 30 March 2011