Emergency services are trying to contain and clean up a spillage of the toxic chemical phenol, which occurred when a tanker overturned in east China late Wednesday, Xinhua quoted local authorities as saying. The accident happened at 10 p.m. on Yanhu road on the boundary of Haining City and Haiyan City in east China's Zhejiang Province, said an official with the Haining municipal firefighting department. The Zhejiang tanker was carrying nine tonnes of phenol from Shanghai to Huzhou City of Zhejiang, the official said. The tanker driver surnamed Zhang said the tanker overturned when he tried to evade a car coming in the opposite direction. A tanker worker was slightly injured and the vehicle's top was damaged. The phenol will seriously affect the environment, the firefighting department official said. Phenol, also carbolic acid, a toxic white crystalline solid with antiseptic properties, is used in antiseptic surgeries and production of drugs and cosmetics.
