Suicidal Phenol Ingestion: A case report

• Author Details:   
• Ashish Tyagi
• Shashank Tyagi
• Nishtha Malik
• Hitesh Chawla

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Poisoning deaths is not an uncommon occurrence in India. Most frequent substance used for poisoning are agricultural poisons however use of corrosives for suicidal purpose was more frequent earlier. One of the most commonly used household and industrial corrosives is phenol. Atleast half of the phenol poisoning cases terminate fatally. The toxicological hazards of phenol and its derivatives must never be underestimated and mishandling of these substances can easily result in serious consequences. Phenol (carbolic acid) is one of the oldest and widely used antiseptic agents and being used in many commercially available products. We present here a case which demonstrates the potentially severe toxicity of suicidal ingestion of household phenol.

Keywords: Phenol poisoning, Suicide, Corrosives, Ingestion, Carbolic acid