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Chapter 7: Disinfectants and antibacterials · Part 3: Phenols

Chlorophene

  • Officially classed skin allergen
  • Made from a hazardous chemical
Also called
2-benzyl-4-chlorophenol, o-benzyl-p-chlorophenol
Found in
household and hospital disinfectants

The worst fact: in a US government two-year study it caused kidney tumours in male mice and damaged the kidneys of rats and mice. Australia classes it as "Suspected of causing cancer" and "Suspected of damaging fertility", and it's banned in EU cosmetics. A cleaner who mixed it with bleach developed a serious skin disease.

Why brands use it: it was one of the main actives in US household disinfectants in the 1980s.

Take care if: you'd mix it with bleach, or for your eyes. Australia classes it as "Causes serious eye damage" and "May cause an allergic skin reaction".

Comes from: phenol salts or 4-chlorophenol reacted with benzyl chloride. Australia classes benzyl chloride as "May cause cancer". That doesn't mean it's in the product, but it's not a great starting point for something you clean with.

Myth check: nil.

Contaminants: nil.

Fair to say: the tumours came with kidney damage at high doses. There was no cancer in male rats or female mice, and the evidence in female rats was equivocal. Australia's chemicals regulator (2016 and 2019) found no Australian use or import information, apart from registered agricultural disinfectants, and we found no Australian household product listing it.

Correct as of November 2026. What the badges mean

Sources

  • Safe Work Australia. Hazardous Chemical Information System (HCIS): classifications for each chemical, and for benzene and benzyl chloride.
  • European Union. Regulation (EU) 474/2014 (1,4-dichlorobenzene); Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/110 (triclosan); Regulation (EU) 358/2014 (triclosan in cosmetics); Regulation (EU) 2019/831 (chlorophene); Regulation (EU) 2014/866 (cetrimonium 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.
  • US National Toxicology Program. Technical Report on o-benzyl-p-chlorophenol (1994).
  • HSDB (US National Library of Medicine), via PubChem: manufacturing, toxicity and impurity data.

The full source list is at the end of Chapter 7.