Chloroxylenol was first made in 1927. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines .It is sold in a number of formulations and under a number of brand names, including Dettol .
Soon after it was created
parachlorometaxylenol
was then called
PCMX
, but this was thought to be a poor name and it was renamed
Dettol
. Then in 1932 it was marketed in Britain and in India. It had a white on green bottle with a white sword depicted.
Chloroxylenol is used in hospitals and households for disinfection and sanitation. It is also commonly used in
antibacterial soaps
, wound-cleansing applications and household antiseptics.
Testing has shown products containing chloroxylenol effective against the virus
and orthopoxviruses.