chloraseptic=death?

This morning's news included a story suggesting that Nazi hunters at the Simon Wiesenthal Center have determined a certain war criminal, Aribert Heim, probably died and was buried in Egypt in the early '90s. He was apparently involved in "medical" experiments that sound awful--including deliberately injecting people with poison.

When I heard the story I immediately was taken back to a class yesterday, where the conversation led to the meaning of "phenol" and I casually mentioned that phenol, while rated as toxic by chemical supply houses, happens to be the ingredient in Chloraseptic throat spray. Ha ha ha, I chuckled, "How is it both medicine and poison?" and then I looked a bit deeper into this compound. It has a fascinating rap sheet.

Phenol is not only used as a topical antiseptic in Chloraseptic, it also:

• is considered toxic and mutagenic, and carries a health warning of "3" (highest is 4) on the NFPA label
• is the source of the odor best known as hospital smell
• is a raw material in phenolic resins, which included the historically important polymer, Bakelite

In addition to all this, it was also used by the Nazis to kill people by injection.

So wasn't it a coincidence to learn all this yesterday, and then wake this morning to the story of the Nazi doctor who may have committed these horrific acts with, perhaps, this very compound.