Liver as major organ of phenol detoxication?

Abstract

THE ability to detoxicate and eliminate potentially harmful substances from the body represents a defence mechanism, the importance of which is well established. It has been assumed that the protective devices themselves, the detoxication mechanisms, have evolved to protect the organism from potentially harmful chemicals occurring naturally in the environment. These chemicals, usually described as foreign, are rendered harmless by metabolic transformations and modified compounds are subsequently excreted usually in the urine or bile. The liver is generally regarded as the major organ of detoxication.