Coal tar: Encyclopedia - Coal tar

Coal tar

Coal tar is the liquid by-product of the distillation of coal to make coke. The gaseous by-product produced by this process is commonly known as town gas.

Coal tar is very viscous brown or black liquid, with smell of naphthalene and aromatic hydrocarbons. Being inflammable, it is sometimes used for heating or to fire boilers. Like most oils, it must be heated before it will flow easily.

It can be made into coal tar soap, and is used in medicated shampoo to kill and repel head lice and as a treatment for dandruff and psoriasis.

According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, coal tar is a Group 1 carcinogen.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Coal tar", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki