Peripheral neuropathy due to dinitrophenol used for weight loss: something old, something new.

The benzene-based compound 2,4-dinitrophenol was developed in the late 19th century, and was used during World War I for manufacture of explosives. A number of cases of dinitrophenol poisoning were noted in French munitions plant workers. Acute inisxication caused hyperpyrexia, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea; sympisms of subacute exposure included weight loss. Several workers died. The weight-loss observation led is widespread clinical use in the United States in the 1930s as an antiobesity drug, until reports of adverse effects prompted withdrawal from the consumer market in 1938 under pressure from the Food and Drug Administration. Dinitrophenol has continued to be available for industrial uses, including production of dyes, wood preservatives, and pesticides.