Toxicity Profile for Chlorocresols (1992)

Abstract

Chlorocresols are skin and eye irritants, and provoke both systemic and skin sensitivity reactions in humans. Acute poisoning incidents have been reported and include one death. Moderate toxicity has been described in rodents following acute oral exposure, with damage to the kidney, liver and spleen being reported in rats given lethal doses of 4-chloro-2-methylphenol. Repeated intraperitoneal injection of 4-chloro-2-methylphenol produced changes in the liver, kidney, intestine and blood of rats, effects which were not seen following repeated oral administration of 4-chloro-3-methylphenol at comparable doses. No evidence of mutagenicity has been reported for any of the (tested) isomers in limited bacterial mutagenicity tests (Ames). In mice, repeated intraperitoneal injection of "chlorocresol" had no marked effect on the incidence of sperm abnormalities and no chromosomal damage was induced following oral treatment with 4-chloro-3-methylphenol.