I read all that was on toxnet. I went so far as to see what studies had been conducted to base the assumptions on. One is that the tests were only done on animals (rats, mice, and rabbits) from these you have to read the protocols that were used on those tests. For the ones where death was attributed, they took massive doses of pure pyrogallol and injected it direct into the blood stream of rabbits. First anything in that proportion they injected would cause serious damage. Second no one is going to main line the equivalent of those doses direct into themselves.
As for the skin irritations they used guinea pigs. they shave a large portion of their body, salved on a highly concentrated amount, wrapped it in plastic then tin foil and kept it on there for 24 hours, then repeated for another 24 hours. The skin showed irritation (DUH) and they had eyrthmea (irregular heat beat) which the heart beat cleared up by 72 hours from the start once they took the wrappings off and left it exposed to the air. The skin thickened once exposed to air, and became dry. all of it flaked off and was back to normal in 8 to 10 days depending on the animal. Now how many of you are going to salve it on in high concentrations and wear saran wrap style dressings and leave it there for 48 hours?
NO TEST HAS BEEN DONE ON A HUMAN. that was one thing noted. All the evidence that is cited and reviewed has been of anecdotal cases. No mention of the full case history of those cited. Could there be other mitigating factors for some of those cases? Yes this is a gov. agency that has compiled this, but as you can tell there has not been any hard substantial evidence done in clear cut manner to cause even the FDA to ban, limit, or label it as a major hazard. It does need to be handled with care. I am not saying it shouldn't. Wear gloves. It will stain your skin. It can cause dermatitis or other reactive skin problems to those sensitive to chemicals. DO WEAR a mask when working with the dry form. DO not serve yourself a meal made of mostly the pure form. DO NOT drink a highly concentrated cocktail of it. BE responsible and do not Drink it and drive.
Remember above all the small amounts you will be working with. Remember the time or duration of real contact with it. And Remember that once mixed, it oxidizes rapidly. Most often it is entirely inert (not toxic) within 10 to 15 minutes.
