Pentachlorophenol

views updated

Pentachlorophenol

One of the most widely manufactured chemicals in the world, PCP is used extensively as a wood preservative for telephone poles, fences, and indoor or outdoor construction materials. It has also been used for slime control in the pulp and paper manufacturing process, for weed control, termite control, and as a paint preservative. Technical grade PCP contains trace amounts of less-chlorinated phenols and certain chlorinated dioxins and furans . Concerns over its toxicity have curtailed the use of PCP in the United States to treat materials that humans or animals will have contact with. Readily absorbed through skin and also volatile, it is acutely toxic from dermal exposure or inhalation.