The discovery of chloroxylenol was the result of efforts to produce improved antiseptics that began at the end of the 1800s, when scientists gradually realized that more substituted and more lipophilic phenols are less toxic, less irritant and more powerful.

[3] First synthesized in Germany in 1923, it was borne out of the study of coal tar components that began a decade earlier.

[6] The World Health Organization lists a 4.8% solution of chloroxylenol as an essential medicine.

Phenolic compounds are of particular concern to felines because cats are unable to fully metabolize them.

The use of chloroxylenol-containing Dettol as an agent for pest control was banned in Western Australia by the Department of Environment and Conservation in 2011.