Phenol

Phenol

• Phenol is used as a preservative used in some vaccines. It helps keep bacteria from growing in and contaminating the vaccine solutions.
• Phenol is a mutagen that changes the genetic material, such as DNA, of an organism and increases the frequency of mutations.
• Phenol can cause an irregular heartbeat.
• Phenol is both a corrosive  and can cause severe burns and is considered toxic because absorbed phenol acts as a systemic toxin.
• Liquid phenol can penetrate the skin with efficiency approximately equal to that of inhalation.
• Phenol is used as a preservative in the vaccines of: PNEUMOVAX 23 vaccine, TYPHIM VI for Typhoid Fever and  ACAM2000 for Smallpox. A phenol compound called 2-Phenoxyethanol is used in the vaccine IPOL, for Polio.