Fact about phenol?

Question

I just want to know the main uses for phenol. And when I look it up they give me:

The primary use of phenol is in the production of phenolic resins, which are used in the plywood, construction, automotive, and appliance industries.

I know it's in english but what do they mean by it. What are they implying what the use of phenol is.

Answer 1

Phenol has antiseptic properties, and was used by Sir Joseph Lister in his pioneering technique of antiseptic surgery, though the skin irritation caused by continual exposure to phenol eventually led to the substitution of aseptic (germ-free) techniques in surgery. It is one of the main components of the commercial antiseptic TCP (trichlorophenol). It is also the active ingredient in some oral anesthetics such as Chloraseptic spray. Phenol was also the main ingredient of the Carbolic Smoke Ball, a device sold in London designed to protect the user against influenza and other ailments. In the early part of the 20th century, it was used in the Battle Creek Sanitarium to discourage female masturbation.[1]

It is also used in the production of drugs (it is the starting material in the industrial production of aspirin), weedkiller, and synthetic resins (Bakelite, one of the first synthetic resins to be manufactured, is a polymer of phenol with formaldehyde). Exposure of the skin to concentrated phenol solutions causes chemical burns which may be severe; in laboratories where it is used, it is usually recommended that polyethylene glycol solution is kept available for washing off splashes. Washing with large amounts of plain water (most labs have a safety shower or eye-wash) and removal of contaminated clothing are required, and immediate ER treatment for large splashes; particularly if the phenol is mixed with chloroform (a commonly used mixture in molecular biology for DNA purification). Notwithstanding the effects of concentrated solutions, it is also used in cosmetic surgery as an exfoliant, to remove layers of dead skin. It is also used in phenolization, a surgical procedure used to treat an ingrown nail, in which it is applied to the toe to prevent regrowth of nails.

Injections of phenol have occasionally been used as a means of rapid execution. In particular, phenol was used as a means of extermination by the Nazis during the Second World War. Phenol injections were given to thousands of people in concentration camps, especially at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Injections were administered either by medical doctors or by their assistants; such injections were originally given intravenously, more commonly in the arm, but injection directly into the heart, so as to induce nearly instant death, was later preferred. [2]

Answer 2

Phenolic resins are used to make composite material such as plywood and fibreglass. You can look both of those up.
One material stuck together by another often makes a really usefully different substance, with much greater strength.

Answer 3

First of all, slight amounts of this will produce cardiac arrest so dont mess with it if you found any of it. It is used in the making of rubber and plactic products and used in making
glue products. Also it can be used for cleaning of mechanical parts before blueprinting, etc. It was also used during world war two by the Nazis to exterminate many thousands of people by injection to stop the heart.