Talk:Coal tar

Heading
Is this a British spelling? In American English no hyphen is used. I hesitate to move it if it is a legitimate difference. Rmhermen 18:17, Aug 8, 2003 (UTC)


 * I'm English and none of my dictionaries use a hyphen. I've moved the page accordingly. --Camembert

-Plagiarism?-

Most of this article is identical to this site: I'm going to remove the plagiarised parts.Apofisu 02:57, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Give me a break. The Wiki "do-gooders" jumping in to the rescue when NONE is needed!!!! The so-called plagiarized material from a GOVERNMENT site is, in and of itself, not within the technical aspect of plagiarism. The material on that government site is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN!!! Obbop told thee this.68.13.191.153 21:58, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

The bit about safety seems to be expressing a particular point of view not supported with the citations given.

wtf over 10,000 ingredients in coal tar? lol and here I thought it was just carbon.... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Special:Contributions/ (talk)

this article should mention that coal tar is also a very widely used food coloring agent (wich is very disturbing) here is a site for info, and i am lazy and short on time http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2007/09/19/the-7-wonders-of-the-food-coloring-world/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.70.41.10 (talk) 14:27, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

It is not mentioned that other use of coal tar is the production of coal tar pitch (not to be confused with asphalt) and Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. After dewatering process and a distillation we obtain (source : Chemistry and Physics of Carbon, Ljubisa R. Radovic, Peter A. Thrower, Vol.28, Chap. 4, 2003) : - light fraction (200-210°C) also called phenolic fraction : Phenol is used as chemical intermediate (for example in phenolic resins manufacturing) - medium fraction (210-360°C) containing Naphthalene, Acenaphthene, Anthracene and other substances : used as chemical intermediates - heavy fraction (360-400°C) containing chrysen oil : used for wood protection - coal tar pitch fraction (above 400°C) : used in artificial graphite manufacturing process (see Graphite) or waterproffing of Flat roof. Regarding the comment posted on August 23, 2007 : do not confuse the element carbon with the various types of carbon at a solid state (see definitions by IUPAC at http://goldbook.iupac.org/C00821.html) Joacel (talk) 18:03, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Lead
Not a big fan of having three one sentence paragraphs. So moved it around again. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 13:49, 30 January 2017 (UTC)


 * Your "newer refs" (IARC) are just a summary of the older ones; they don't invalidate them. The older ones still need to be included so people can read the actual information in them. 24.44.23.238 (talk) 16:16, 10 June 2017 (UTC)
 * No, what we tend to do is provide a couple of high quality recent references. We do not need more than 3. The point is not controversial. Doc James  (talk · contribs · email) 16:18, 11 June 2017 (UTC)

WP:MEDMOS
As a WHO Essential Medicine have restored the layout to that recommended per WP:MEDMOS Doc James  (talk · contribs · email) 06:28, 29 December 2017 (UTC)

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"composed primarily of volatile hydrocarbons."
Which ref supports this? Best Doc James  (talk · contribs · email) 22:30, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Article could be improved by adding historical uses as chemical feedstock
The article currently seems to treat coal tar largely as a pharmaceutical, with some secondary nods to uses as a sealant or a fuel, and a brief mention of synthetic dyes.

But coal tar was the genesis of organic chemical synthesis on an industrial scale. It was the feedstock for what would become the petrochemical industry before people realized that petroleum was more cost effective. Not just dyes but synthetic pharmaceuticals (very different from the pharma uses currently described, which are mostly about using refined coal tar itself as a drug rather than molecules synthesized from it) &mdash; especially sulfa drugs. And plastics -- bakelite for example. Anything you'd make from phenol or aniline.

These days, of course, the synthetic organic chemical industry uses mainly petroleum, but it got its start with coal tar. It seems like a pretty important aspect of the topic to discuss in this article. --Trovatore (talk) 09:03, 20 January 2022 (UTC)

Pigment
Really no mention of pigment? This is the primary source of carbon black for centuries. 79.106.203.16 (talk) 10:27, 16 May 2024 (UTC)


 * I've added it to uses under industry. Recon  rabbit  18:56, 16 May 2024 (UTC)