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By: Ikedi Ani-okoye.

Carbolic acid explained

Phenol, also known under an older name of carbolic acid, is a toxic, colourless crystaline solid with a sweet tarry odor. Its chemical formula i C6H5OH and its structure is that of a hydroxl group (-OH) bounded to a phenyl ring; it is thus an aromatic compound.

Where Phenol (Carbolic acid) is found?

Phenol is found naturally in decaying dead organic matter like rotting vegetables and in coal. It was first isolated in 1834 from coal tar and this remained the main source of phenol until the First World War. The first synthetic method was then devised and all of the phenol today is man made. The prolonged sulphonation of benzene produces a benzene sulphonic acid, which, when fused with caustic alkalis, form a phenol.

Affects of Phenol (Carbolic acid)

Inhalation and dermal exposure to phenol is highly irritating to the skin, eyes, and mucous membranes in humans. Phenol is considered to be very toxic to humans through oral exposure, with ingestion of 1 g reported to be lethal, with symptoms including muscle weakness and tremors, loss of coordination, paralysis, convulsions, coma, and respiratory arrest.

Blood changes, liver and kidney damage, and cardiac toxicity including weak pulse, cardiac depression, and reduced blood pressure have been reported in humans acutely exposed to phenol by the oral route. Acute (short-term) animal tests, such as the LD50 tests in rats, mice, and rabbits, have shown phenol to have high acute toxicity from oral exposure.

CONCLUSION

Pure phenol consists of white or clear acicular crystals. At 41degreesC (105degreesF), phenol congeals into a solid that can be liquefied by mixing a very small amount of water (2 parts water: 23 parts phenol). On exposure to air and light, phenol assumes a pinkish or reddish discoloration; this discoloration is accelerated by the presence of alkalinity or impurities.

Phenol has a characteristic sweet, medicinal, or tar-like odor. It is shipped in the molten state at elevated temperatures or in the solid or crystalline form; it is also available as an aqueous solution. The air odor threshold concentration for phenol is 0.04 part per million (ppm) parts of air.