INCIDENT
REPORTS
ASSOCIATED
WITH
2
Phenylphenol
&
Salts
(
PC
CODE:
064103,
064104,
064108)

April
10,
2006
U.
S.
Environmental
Protection
Agency
Office
of
Pesticide
Programs
Antimicrobials
Division
TABLE
OF
CONTENTS
0.0
INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................
1
1.0
INCIDENT
REPORT
DATA
ASSOCIATED
WITH
HEALTH
EFFECTS
OF
PHENOL
EXPOSURE...................................................................................................................
1
1.1
OPPs
Incident
Data
System
(
IDS).....................................................................
2
1.2
Poison
Control
Center
......................................................................................
2
1.3
California
Data
­
1982
through
2003.................................................................
3
1.4
National
Pesticide
Telecommunications
Network
(
NPTN)...............................
3
1.5
Incident
Reports
Associated
with
Toxic
Effects
of
phenols
Published
in
Scientific
Literature.
..........................................................................................
3
2.0
SUMMARY
AND
CONCLUSION
....................................................................................
4
1
0.0
INTRODUCTION
The
chemical
ortho­
phenylphenol
and
its
sodium
and
potassium
salts
are
used
as
fungicides
and
disinfectants.
Due
to
the
widespread
use
of
especially
ortho­
phenylphenol
and
its
sodium
salts,
the
potential
for
consumer
exposure
and
some
"
critical"
findings
the
toxicological
database
is
quite
extensive
and
complex.
For
the
skin
and
mucous
membranes,
ortho­
phenylphenol
has
been
considered
as
irritating,
and
its
potassium
and
potassium
salts
as
corrosive.
This
reports
summarized
the
potential
health
effects
of
phenol
in
humans,
reported
as
incident
reports
from
different
sources.
Three
active
ingredients
are
covered
in
this
report:
PC
Code:
064103,
064104,
064108
Two
approaches
are
used
in
this
section:

$
The
potential
health
effects
of
phenol
in
humans,
reported
as
incident
reports
from
different
sources,
are
summarized.

$
A
literature
search
of
chronic
health
effects
associated
with
phenol
exposure,
including
results
of
epidemiological
studies,
are
summarized.

1.0
INCIDENT
REPORT
DATA
ASSOCIATED
WITH
HEALTH
EFFECTS
OF
PHENOL
EXPOSURE
The
following
databases
have
been
consulted
for
the
poisoning
incident
data
a.
OPP
Incident
Data
System
(
IDS)
­
The
Incident
Data
System
of
The
Office
of
Pesticide
Programs
(
OPP)
of
the
Environmental
Protection
Agency
(
EPA)
contains
reports
of
incidents
from
various
sources,
including
registrants,
other
federal
and
state
health
and
environmental
agencies
and
individual
consumers,
submitted
to
OPP
since
1992.
Reports
submitted
to
the
Incident
Data
System
represent
anecdotal
reports
or
allegations
only,
unless
otherwise
stated.
Typically
no
conclusions
can
be
drawn
implicating
the
pesticide
as
a
cause
of
any
of
the
reported
health
effects.
Nevertheless,
sometimes
with
enough
cases
and/
or
enough
documentation
risk
mitigation
measures
may
be
suggested.

b.
Poison
Control
Centers
­
as
the
result
of
a
data
purchase
by
EPA,
OPP
received
Poison
Control
Center
data
covering
the
years
1993
through
1998
for
all
pesticides.
Most
of
the
national
Poison
Control
Centers
(
PCCs)
participate
in
a
national
data
collection
system,
the
Toxic
Exposure
Surveillance
System,
which
obtains
data
from
about
65­
70
centers
at
hospitals
and
universities.
PCCs
provide
telephone
consultation
for
individuals
and
health
care
providers
on
suspected
poisonings,
involving
drugs,
household
products,
pesticides,
etc.

c.
California
Department
of
Pesticide
Regulation
­
California
has
collected
uniform
2
data
on
suspected
pesticide
poisonings
since
1982.
Physicians
are
required,
by
statute,
to
report
to
their
local
health
officer
all
occurrences
of
illness
suspected
of
being
related
to
exposure
to
pesticides.
The
majority
of
the
incidents
involve
workers.
Information
on
exposure
(
worker
activity),
type
of
illness
(
systemic,
eye,
skin,
eye/
skin
and
respiratory),
likelihood
of
a
causal
relationship,
and
number
of
days
off
work
and
in
the
hospital
are
provided.

d.
National
Pesticide
Telecommunications
Network
(
NPTN)
­
NPTN
is
a
toll­
free
information
service
supported
by
OPP.
A
ranking
of
the
top
200
active
ingredients
for
which
telephone
calls
were
received
during
calendar
years
1984­
1991,
inclusive,
has
been
prepared.
The
total
number
of
calls
was
tabulated
for
the
categories
human
incidents,
animal
incidents,
calls
for
information,
and
others.

e.
Published
Incident
Reports
­
One
incident
report
associated
with
hydantoins
related
human
health
hazard
are
published
in
the
scientific
literature.

1.1
OPP
=

s
Incident
Data
System
(
IDS)

A
total
of
72
individual
human
incident
cases
submitted
to
the
EPA
Office
of
Pesticide
Programs
are
associated
with
exposure
to
ortho­
phenylphenol
and
its
salts
containing
products.

The
products
listed
in
the
data
base
included
several
surface
disinfectants
produced
by
a
number
of
registrants.
Most
of
the
reported
incidences
were
not
serious
in
nature.
Incidences
were
reported
for
both
humans
and
domestic
animals.
The
symptoms
included
burning
eyes,
itchy
skin,
difficulty
in
breathing,
coughing,
nausea,
vomiting,
headache,
hives,
swollen
mouth,
dizziness,
burning
throat
and
lungs,
nasal
irritation,
skin
irritation,
eye
swelling,
foot
burn,
pus
in
eye,
blisters,
welts,
erythema,
ulcerations
of
foot,
corneal
abrasion,
vertigo,
muscle
weakness,
diarrhea,
ocular
irritation,
nose
bleed,
dyspnea,
and
tremor.
These
symptoms
occurred
when
the
individual
came
in
contact
with
the
product
either
through
dermal
or
respiratory
exposure,
usually
from
a
spray.
The
symptoms
generally
cleared
up
after
a
few
minutes
to
a
few
hours.
No
severe
symptoms
or
death
occurred
from
exposure
to
this
chemical.

1.2
Poison
Control
Center
There
is
no
ortho­
phenylphenol
and
its
salts
specific
incident
that
have
been
reported.
A
total
of
22,318
incident
cases
are
been
reported
associated
with
phenolic
disinfectants
exposure
been
reported
in
the
American
Association
of
Poison
Control
Centers
(
PCC)
Toxic
Exposure
Surveillance
System
(
TESS)
in
the
years
between
1993
­
1998
(
Summarized
in
table
2).
Most
of
the
incidences
(
more
than
93%
of
the
cases)
were
associated
with
no
effects
or
only
minor
effects.
Around
3
percent
of
the
cases
are
judged
to
be
not
related
to
the
chemical
exposure.
There
are
11
cases
are
consider
are
associated
with
major
clinical
effects
and
death
was
involved
in
one
of
the
cases.
The
primary
symptoms
involved
in
these
major
incidences
were
GI
tract
effect,
neuro­
toxic
signs,
cardiovscular
effects,
and
respiratory
effects.
3
Table
1.
Medical
Outcome
of
Phenolic
Disinfectant
Related
Cases
in
American
Association
of
Poison
Control
Centers,
Toxic
Exposure
Surveillance
System
(
TESS)

YEAR
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Grand
Total
1993
848
734
53
1
576
696
108
62
3078
1994
1034
976
74
1
1
711
1007
102
112
4018
1995
1127
1185
83
3
727
1067
94
132
4418
1996
975
990
64
1
614
1024
73
99
3840
1997
919
841
55
2
516
887
44
74
3338
1998
992
916
69
2
461
1031
51
104
3626
Total
5895
5642
398
10
1
3605
5712
472
583
22318
Note:
0
­
No
Effect
1
­
Minor
Effect
2
­
Moderate
Effect
3
­
Major
Effect
4
­
Death
5
­
Not
Followed,
judged
as
nontoxic
exposure
(
clinical
effects
not
expected)
6
­
Not
followed,
minimal
clinical
effects
possible
(
no
more
than
minor
effect
possible)
7
­
Unable
to
follow,
judged
as
a
potentially
toxic
exposure
8
­
Unrelated
effect,
the
exposure
was
probably
not
responsible
for
the
effect(
s)

1.3
California
Data
­
1982
through
2003
There
is
no
ortho­
phenylphenol
and
its
salts
specific
incident
been
reported.
Detailed
descriptions
of
360
cases
with
a
definite,
probable
or
possible
relationship
cases
associated
with
phenolic
disinfectants
submitted
to
the
California
Pesticide
Illness
Surveillance
Program
(
1982­
2003)
were
reviewed.
Table
2
presents
the
types
of
illnesses
reported
by
year.
Table
3
gives
the
total
number
of
workers
that
took
time
off
work
as
a
result
of
their
illness
and
how
many
were
hospitalized
and
for
how
long.

1.4
National
Pesticide
Telecommunications
Network
(
NPTN)

There
are
no
incidents
reported
in
the
NPTN
database
related
to
ortho­
phenylphenol.

1.5
Incident
Reports
Associated
with
Toxic
Effects
of
phenols
Published
in
Scientific
Literature.

In
the
Hazardous
Substances
Data
Bank
(
HSDB),
there
is
a
fatal
oral
dose
of
10
g
was
reported,
and
toxic
effects
on
the
urothelium
of
the
bladder
were
observed
in
two
humans
exposed
to
ortho­
phenylphenol.

The
incidence
report
found
in
the
scientific
literature
concerned
Microban,
which
was
sprayed
into
an
operating
heating/
ventilation/
air
conditioning
(
HVAC)
unit
at
an
elementary
school
on
Monday,
4
September
28,
1992
in
San
Francisco,
California
(
Sesline
et
al.
1994).
Microban
contains
0.21%
ortho­
phenylphenol,
0.69%
of
a
quaternary
ammonium
complex
di­
isobutylphenoxy­
ethoxyethyldimethylbenzyl
mmonium
chloride),
and
0.04%
bromine.
Symptoms,
primarily
skin
and
mucous
membrane
irritation,
were
elevated
on
Monday
and
Tuesday,
but
the
symptoms
normalized
by
the
end
of
the
week.
The
individuals
who
were
exposed
to
the
chemical
were
evacuated
immediately
after
symptoms
were
observed
and
they
all
recovered
completely
within
a
few
minutes
to
a
few
hours.
It
was
not
clear
which
one
of
Microbans
three
active
ingredients
caused
the
symptoms
documented
in
this
study.

2.0
SUMMARY
AND
CONCLUSION
The
chemical
ortho­
phenylphenol
and
its
sodium
and
potassium
salts
are
used
as
fungicides,
in
can
preservatives
and
disinfectants.
They
belong
to
the
phenolic
microbiocide
group.
There
are
incidents
reported
associated
with
exposure
to
end­
use
products
containing
ortho­
phenylphenol
and
its
sodium
and
potassium
salts.
Dermal,
ocular
and
inhalation
are
the
primary
routes
of
exposure.

Dermal
exposure
is
considered
as
a
very
important
route
of
exposure.
Most
of
the
incidences
are
related
to
irritation
reaction.
The
most
common
symptoms
reported
for
cases
of
inhalation
exposure
were
respiratory
irritation/
burning,
irritation
to
mouth/
throat/
nose,
coughing/
choking,
shortness
of
breath,
dizziness,
flu­
like
symptoms,
and
headache.
Eye
pain,
burning
of
eyes,
conjunctivitis,
blurring
vision,
and
acute
inflammation
have
been
reported
in
ocular
exposure
incidents.
Neurological
effects
have
been
reported.
Because,
most
of
the
effects
are
reported
with
products
containing
ingredients
other
than
the
specific
chemical
of
concern
(
ortho­
phenyl
phenol
and
its
salts),
it
can
not
be
ruled
out
that
some
of
the
effects
are
possibly
caused
by
other
ingredients
in
the
products.
5
Table
2.
Cases
Due
to
Phenolic
Products
Exposure
in
California
Reported
by
Type
of
Illness
and
Year,
1982­
2002
Illness
Type
Year
Systemic
Mouth
Eye
Skin
Respiratory
Combinationa
Total
1983
­
­
­
1
­
­
1
1984
­
­
­
­
­
­
0
1985
­
­
1
1
­
­
2
1986
­
­
1
­
­
­
1
1987
­
­
7
4
­
­
11
1988
2
34
7
­
1
41
1989
3
1
28
14
1
6
42
1990
8
4
23
16
2
6
43
1991
2
1
32
13
2
2
47
1992
10
3
17
8
3
6
38
1993
1
­
20
3
2
1
26
1994
5
­
7
4
­
1
15
1995
2
1
8
7
1
1
18
1996
1
1
7
7
­
1
15
1997
9
2
5
6
1
4
19
1998
1
7
3
2
1
12
1999
2
1
3
4
­
1
9
2000
4
1
4
3
­
2
10
2001
1
1
2
2
­
1
5
2002
­
­
5
­
­
­
5
2003
­
­
1
2
­
3
Total
51
16
211
104
16
34
360
a
Category
includes
combined
effects
to
eye,
skin,
mouth
and
respiratory
systems.
6
Table
3.
Number
of
Persons
Disabled
(
taking
time
off
work)
or
Hospitalized
for
Indicated
Number
of
Days
After
Pine
Oil
Exposure
in
California,
1982­
2003.

Number
of
Persons
Disabled
Number
of
Persons
Hospitalized
One
day
28
Two
days
14
3­
5
days
11
6­
10
days
2
more
than
10
days
4
1
Unknown
14
1
7
3.0
REFERENCE
Sesline,
D.,
Ames,
R..
G.
and
R.
A.
Howd.
1994.
Irritative
and
systemic
symptoms
following
exposure
to
Microban
Disinfectant
through
a
school
ventilation
system.
Arch.
of
Env.
Health
Vol.
49
(
No.
6):
439­
444.
