Acute toxicity of monochlorophenols, dichlorophenols and pentachlorophenol in the mouse.

Acute oral LD50 values were determined for 2-, 3-, and 4-chlorophenol, 2,3-, 2,4-, 2,5-, 2,6-, 3,4-, and 3,5 dichlorophenol and pentachlorophenol in male and female mice. LD50 values (mg/kg) ranged from 117 (females) and 177 (males) for pentachlorophenol to 2389 (females) and 2643 (males) for 3,5-dichlorophenol. It was found that 2-chlorophenol and 3-chlorophenol were considerably more toxic than the dichlorophenol series. Values for males and females were generally similar, the major differences being with pentachlorophenol and 2,5-dichlorophenol, where in both cases the female LD50 was lower.