Chapter 7: Disinfectants and antibacterials · Part 3: Phenols
2-Phenylphenol
- Officially classed skin allergen
The worst fact: the World Health Organization's cancer agency rates its sodium salt "possibly carcinogenic to humans", after bladder tumours in male rats. Australia classes it as "Suspected of causing cancer" and "Suspected of causing genetic defects".
Why brands use it: it kills bacteria and enveloped viruses, and suits aerosol sprays.
Take care if: you get it on your skin. Australia classes it as "Causes severe skin burns and eye damage" and "May cause an allergic skin reaction". It's Schedule 5 (Caution) above 5%.
Comes from: cyclohexanone, joined and dehydrogenated, or recovered as a by-product of making phenol.
Myth check: "It's a proven carcinogen": not quite. The WHO cancer agency doesn't classify the free phenol used in sprays (only its sodium salt), though Australia and the EU class it as "suspected". The US EPA ties the tumours to doses above 200 mg per kg a day.
Contaminants: nil.
Fair to say: a 5% solution didn't irritate or sensitise 200 people in a skin test. It's also used on citrus to stop mould.
Correct as of November 2026. What the badges mean
Sources
- Australian Government. Poisons Standard October 2026 (SUSMP), F2026L01327: didecyldimethylammonium salts; quaternary ammonium compounds; triclosan; o-phenylphenol; chlorocresol; p-dichlorobenzene; thymol; methanol; Appendix B.
- Safe Work Australia. Hazardous Chemical Information System (HCIS): classifications for each chemical, and for benzene and benzyl chloride.
- US EPA. Reregistration documents: chloroxylenol (1994), 2-phenylphenol (2006), p-chloro-m-cresol (1996), o-benzyl-p-chlorophenol (1995), thymol (1993); 40 CFR 152.25.
- IARC. Monographs vol. 73 (1999): ortho-phenylphenol; dichlorobenzenes.
- HSDB (US National Library of Medicine), via PubChem: manufacturing, toxicity and impurity data.
The full source list is at the end of Chapter 7.