When exposures involve the skin surface, the size of the total exposed skin can influence the severity of the toxic effects. The effects of exposure to phenol on human reproduction and the developing fetus are unknown. Pregnant animals that drank water containing high amounts of phenol gave birth to offspring that had low birth weights and birth defects. We do not know whether phenol causes cancer in humans, but cancer occurs in mice when phenol is put on the skin. When phenol is combined with other chemicals that cause cancer and put on the skin, more cancer may occur than when the other chemicals are put on alone.
Phenol can have positive effects when used for medical reasons.
Small amounts of phenol in water have been injected into nerves to reduce pain caused by some nerve disorders. Phenol will kill the outer layers of skin if it remains on the skin, and small amounts of strong solutions of phenol are sometimes put on the skin to remove warts and to treat other skin spots and disorders.