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Luna moth (C) Daniel FriedmanMothball Odor & Offgassing Hazards
Naphthalene poisoning symptoms
Health risks of Mothballs: naphthalene or p-dichlorobenzene

Mothball or naphthalene health hazards: dangers of mothball odors or off-gassing or mothball or moth flake ingestion.

The US EPA estimates that about 7.5 million pounds of naphthalene (often written as napthalene) are marketed in the U.S. each year as a pesticide, of which the major use is in moth repellant products. (US EPA 2008).

Here we describe the detection of and risks of exposure to mothball chemicals & odors when moth repellent products are applied indoors in buildings.

We describe how to get rid of mothball odors in buildings, building furnishings, clothing, or vehicles.

We note the possible health hazards from exposure to mothball odors (and gases) as well as the child hazard of eating mothballs or moth repellent products. We discuss methods to reduce mothball chemical & gas exposure.

We cite authoritative sources of information about safe and proper use of moth repellents and about mothball and moth repellent chemistry, child hazards, indoor air quality and health concerns, and proper application and use of these products.

Page top photo, courtesy of Wikipedia commons, shows a cluster mothballs, or a solid form of naphthalene.

InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.

- Daniel Friedman, Publisher/Editor/Author - See WHO ARE WE?

Mothball Odors & Chemical Hazards

Symptoms of Naphthalene Poisoning

Moth repellents - older packaging (C) Daniel Friedman at InspectApedia.comWhen naphthalene is inhaled, the chemical is stored in the human (or animal) body fat cells. In this phase of exposure, the building occupants may not show symptoms of naphthalene poisoning.

However, should the building occupants later lose weight for any reason, the body's shift to burning fat cells can release naphthalene into the circulatory system, causing naphthalene poisoning.

That humans can suffer serious illness in response to naphthalene exposure has been known since at least 1903, and in 1949 Zuelzer cited acute heolytic anemia due to naphthalene poisoning. (Nash 1903, Konar 1939, Zuelzer 1949).

More extreme naphthalene poisoning can produce these symptoms:

Research on Health Hazards of Breathing Mothball Offgassing or of Eating Mothballs: Naphthalene Poisoning

Moth (C) Daniel Friedman

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Reader Comments, Questions & Answers About The Article Above

Below you will find questions and answers previously posted on this page at its page bottom reader comment box.

Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

On 2023-04-15 by InspectApedia Editor (mod) - using mothballs to kill a feral cat colony?

@Erincrowe R,

Thank you for a helpful question on chasing off feral cats using "mothball nest trap boxes"

Yes you should throw away the styrofoam cat-house boxes that smell like styrofoam.

Yes, depending on size, quantity, location, exposure to weather, plus perhaps rain, mothballs or moth flakes might dissipate in three weeks.

Remaining odor on soil should further dissipate.

Please do post some photos, one per comment, of the whole cat-box system so that we can better understand what you're dealing-with.

If, also, you have a reference on the method being used to repel feral cats please share that.

Watch out: We do NOT recommend using mothballs as you describe: it is improper, unsafe, and potentially illegal, depending on where you live. Further, I would not expect mothballs or napthalene to "kill feral cats" or other un-wanted animals as you described. More-likely the smell simply drives them away.

Supporting research:

Ledoux, Danny. Pest control simplified for everyone: Kill, repel, or mitigate pests with or without pesticides. Universal-Publishers, 2011.
Excerpt:
… Although many pest controllers doubt the effectiveness of snake repellants such as Snake-Away (sulfur and naphthalene), farmers in China have long used sulfur to drive away snakes. …

Robbins, Nancy. Domestic cats: their history, breeds and other facts. Nancy Robbins, 2012.
Excerpt:
… group of cats that needs to be looked: feral cats. Although … They include mothballs and similar products as well as others… areas where cats eat and where they have litter boxes.

Ogg, Barb, "Mothballs are Pesticides - Use Safely" [PDF] (2010) The Nebline, University of Nebraska, Lincoln Extension in Lancaster County, 404 Cherrycreek Rd., Lincon, NE 68528 USA, Tel: 402-441-7180, Web: lancaster.unl.edu, in Environmental Focus, August 2010 p. 3.

Copy at: https://inspectapedia.com/hazmat/Nebline-August-2010-excerpts.pdf

Excerpt:
For some inexplicable reason, some unthinking people believe moth balls and crystals will repel other animals.

Mothballs cannot be used:

• in attics to get rid of bats, squirrels, raccoons, and other animals,
• in perennial beds and gardens to prevent rabbit feeding,
• in yards or basements to get rid of snakes.

Mothballs will not be effective for these off-label uses. It is also a violation of Federal Law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its
labeling.

The Nebraska Department of Agriculture Pesticide Program regulates pesticide applications, including the inappropriate use of mothballs. At least one Lincolnite was observed recently picking up mothballs he had earlier spread to get rid of snakes in his yard.

Thomas, Paul. "The President's Page." Nuclear Future 6, no. 3 (2010): 126.
Excerpt:
… more likely to deter new cats from straying into the colony. … raised from the flooron bricks to provide sleeping boxes. The … First, cats tend to shy away from the smell of mothballs, so you …

On 2023-04-15 by Erincrowe R

Someone has used mothballs to poison to kill a feral cat colony. The cat houses were on private property.

6 out of the 8 straw filled Styrofoam boxes had a handful of mothballs thrown in. There are 14 cats left. I have thrown out the straw, should I also dispose of the Styrofoam boxes as well? There was a pile on the ground, as well.

How do I make this area safe again for pets, children, and the cats? Some of the boxes definitely smelled but I could not find the pellets.

However, it has only been 3 weeks since the cats started going missing en mass. Could the pellets dissipate in 3 weeks under these conditions?

I am attaching a picture showing one of the houses that had the mothballs thrown in. They have started to eat away at the Styrofoam. Ty for your help.

On 2021-10-11 by (mod) - are spilled mothballs in the attic a toxic situation?

@Allie,

You may need some help to find and remove those mothballs - otherwise the smell will continue;

Meanwhile you can reduce the effects by fresh air ventilation.

I wouldn't personally be in a panic about this problem but different people vary in their sensitivity to smells and other air contaminants. So I can't say what's toxic or what's harmful for you. Rather I responded to your complaint that there was an odor that was bothersome. My advice Remains the Same; sorry but I don't have another suggestion

On 2021-10-11 by Allie

Accidentally opened a bag of moth balls and the spilled all over inside unfinished attic and can’t find them all and can smell mothballs strongly in my bedroom. What do I do?

It was only small bag of like 30 mothballs. I’d say I got about half out. Windows open, air purifier going, is this a toxic situation?

On 2021-05-30 by (mod) - How many pounds of moth balls are toxic in 1000 square foot attic?

In the article above on this page you will indeed find some information on health hazards for exposure to mothball off-gassing.

Your question is a perfectly reasonable and understandable one but unfortunately there is no credible answer that can be given from just the words in your text.

That's because the concentration of gases in an attic is going to depend not only on the quantity of the source, in this case mothballs, but also on

If you had a totally enclosed attic space you can understand that the concentration of any airborne contaminant whose source is also in that space will be much greater than in an attic that's well ventilated.

On 2021-05-28 by Linda Ditaranto

How many pounds of moth balls are toxic in 1000 square foot attic?

On 2020-11-15 - by (mod) - I can smell mothballs; are my cat and I going to die?

Z

The clearest explanation of the possible health hazards from exposure to the off-gassing of mothballs are detailed in the page above. Please take a look

On 2020-11-15 by Zosha

My sister in trying to be helpful shoved about 15 lose mothballs 1/2 each into a mouse hole. And then sealed it. But you can smell it. Are me and my cat going to die?

On 2020-07-03 - by (mod) -

Carla

If upholstery cleaning and sunlight and airing-out don't work, then you might need to re-upholster.

My best suggestions are in the article MOTHS, MOTHBALL ODORS.

Please take a look and let me know what you think.

On 2020-07-03 by Carla De Vries

I have dining chairs with upholstered seats that have been exposed to moth balls. Is their a way to clean the naphthalene off the upholstery?
My daughter is concerned the nepheline on the seat's upholstery will be dangerous to her small children.

On 2020-06-25 - by (mod) - hazard remaining in food that was exposed to mothballs

Gloria

Thank you for a remarkable question. Sorry to say I don't know and haven't found an authoritative answer to the question of how to determine, in any way using sound science, the level of hazard remaining in food that was exposed to mothballs or camphor. I suspect that without doubt, if your yellow beans smell in the slightest like mothballs you definitely don't want to eat them

Whether or not cooking would remove harmful residuals that might be present without the "smell test" is where we don't find research.

See HEALTH EFFECTS of EXPOSURE to MOTHBALLS where we cite some helpful research

Also, here is some research that talks around the question of food contamination by mothballs or naphthalene:

On 2020-06-22 by Gloria

Is it safe to eat my yellow beans after using mothballs in garden for 2 weeks not realizing that it was toxic .

On 2016-04-14 by (mod) mothballs under the floor, partner is wheezing

Louise,

This question seems to confound multiple concerns: mothballs and health effects of exposure to naphta, physical health complaints of tiredness and wheezing, "dampness odors", and persistence of odors in hair and clothing.

1. Mothballs will never "fix" an underlying problem of dampness

in a building, nor of mold contamination (that is related to dampness or leaks), nor of other odors from other sources. Mothballs are useful, if properly handled and placed, as a repellant against moths.

2. Prolonged exposure to the volatiles exuded from mothballs

may be irritating or cause other health complaints as we cite in the article above, but your partner should ask these questions of his doctor.

3. If the house smells "damp"

it may indeed be suffering from water entry, poor ventilation, and even of mold contamination that is encouraged by indoor leaks or moisture. To address that one would investigate the home, its leak and moisture history, its level of mold contamination, and perhaps one would investigate further into building cavities that are most-suspect of being wet now or in the past.

4. If your partner has placed an inappropriate amount of mothballs in and around the home,

thinking that magically that substance is going to fix other house problems, he is mistaken, and is probably causing the very complaints you describe.

On 2016-04-14 by louisecarruthers1965@icloud.com

my partner bought a house 26 years ago. the couple he bought it from used moth balls. my parther uses them himself, they are in tubs with no lids.

the mall balls are also under the flooring. he complains he is tired all the time. and has a wheez sometimes.

lovely big house, but smells to me like damp. when i have stayed there at the weekend i smell like damp or something in my hair and on my clothes.




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