Phenolic household disinfectants — further precautions required

Abstract

Phenolic disinfectants (e.g. Meytol, Dettol, etc.) are widely used for domestic purposes. Instructions on the bottles are clearly given with regards to the dilutions that should be used. In domestic cleaning, these instructions are often ignored and higher concentrations are used with the thinking that ‘the more I pour, the cleaner it gets!’. Furthermore, cleaning equipment is some-times stored without prior rinsing with fresh water. As water evaporates much faster than phenol, the solution on stored mops/brushes, etc. becomes progressively more and more concentrated and can cause chemical burns when these utensils are handled at a later time. We therefore suggest that two further instructions should be added to the usual instructions on bottles of household phenolic disinfectants, namely: ‘wear gloves when performing domestic cleaning’ and ‘wash all cleaning equipment with plenty of fresh water after use’. We support this by a case report of a 65-year-old man who sustained full-thickness, painless chemical burns to his right hand after handling a moist mop which had been used for cleaning a carpet with a phenolic household disinfectant solution 2 days earlier.