Chloroxylenol

(in 147 products)

1. Antiseptic / Disinfectant - Prevents growth of unwanted microorganisms.

2. Drug / Medicine - Treats, alleviates, cures, or prevents sickness. As officially declared by a governmental drug/medicine regulatory body

Chloroxylenol is commonly used as an antiseptic and disinfectant. It is commonly used for skin disinfection and may also be used to clean surgical instruments. Chloroxylenol is one of the main active ingredients commonly found in Dettol products. [1]

This ingredient has been designated by the Singaporean Government to be effective against coronaviruses. "As the COVID-19 virus is new, no study has been published on the virus. This assessment is thus based on published scientific studies on coronaviruses, a group to which the COVID-19 virus would belong."

A minimum concentration of 0.12% is sufficient to be effective against coronaviruses.

It was found that a standard Dettol antiseptic/disinfectant product containing 4.80% chloroxylenol (PCMX), which was eventually diluted to 0.120%, is sufficient for virus inactivation (murine hepatitis virus, MHV) after a "30-second contact time". [2] "SARS-CoV and murine hepatitis virus (MHV) share many structural and genetic similarities". [2] The viral inactivation of MHV can be compared to SARS-CoV-2 due to similar "RNA decay characteristics". MHV can therefore be used as a "surrogate virus" in other experiments such as wastewater-based epidemiology. [3]

"Dettol, a mixture of 4.8% chloroxylenol, 9% pine oil, and 12% isopropyl alcohol, is a popular household disinfectant in Hong Kong". [4] Although "Intentional Dettol ingestion constituted the majority (95%) of cases", "a history of psychiatric illness was noted in 26% of the patients and 17% had a history of intentionally taking a drug overdose". [4]

Chloroxylenol is also used as a preoperative antiseptic. In a study, 3% PCMX was less effective than 4% CG (chlorhexidine gluconate) in terms of reducing skin bacteria colony-forming units (CFU) in dogs, "however, this difference was not associated with an increased wound infection rate". [5]

1. PubChem: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/2723

2. The antiviral action of common household disinfectants and antiseptics against murine hepatitis virus, a potential surrogate for SARS coronavirus. (Am. J. Infect. Control, 37(8), 0–652. doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2009.03.012)

3. Decay of SARS-CoV-2 and surrogate murine hepatitis virus RNA in untreated wastewater to inform application in wastewater-based epidemiology. (Environ. Res., 191(), 110092–. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2020.110092)

4. Dettol poisoning and the need for airway intervention. (Hong Kong Med J 2012;18:270-5)

5. Chlorhexidine Gluconate Versus Chloroxylenol for Preoperative Skin Preparation in Dogs. (Vet. Surg., 25(6), 487–494. doi:10.1111/j.1532-950x.1996.tb01448.x)

1. Singapore Interim List of Household Products and Active Ingredients for Disinfection of COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) [Revised: 13 November 2020]

- Chloroxylenol, minimum concentration: 0.12%

2. South Korea - Ministry of Food and Drug Safety - Prohibited/Restricted Chemicals

- Ref: 595

3. Japan - Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare - Restricted Ingredients

- Chlorxylenol

4. WHO Model List of Essential Medicines [2019]

- chloroxylenol

5. EU CosIng Annex V, PRESERVATIVES ALLOWED IN COSMETIC PRODUCTS [2017]

- Ref: V/26

6. Association of Southeast Asian Nations Annex VI, Allowed Preservatives

- 4-Chloro-3,5-xylenol