Yet another chemical widely used by the population has been discovered to be potentially dangerous. Hexachlorophene was first synthesized in 1939 and found to have both bactericidal and fungicidal properties, but its toxicity has only been appreciated in the last few years. Probably the most alarming aspects are that the chemical is not only neurotoxic but is also readily absorbed from the skin. Although muscle twitching and coma were observed 3 years ago in burn patients treated with hexachlorophene, these observations were not actually responsible for the recent toxicity studies which have focused attention on this subject and raised many important questions.