Review of the Toxicity of Hexachlorophene

Abstract

Hexachlorophene has been used extensively as an antibacterial agent for the past 20 years. A review of the literature revealed several cases of human poisoning. A single dose of 250 mg/kg of hexachlorophene administered orally seems to be fatal in children, and daily doses of 20 mg/kg taken for three days cause toxic symptoms. Hexachlorophene is also absorbed by the intact and denuded skin. Central nervous system symptoms developed in a normal infant who was treated with a 3% hexachlorophene solution as a lotion after bath for four days. Work in our laboratory and reports in the literature indicate that rats and pigs develop paralysis when they are exposed to high doses, but the effect on the central nervous system is reversible when exposure to hexachlorophene is discontinued.