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Termite damage photographs (C) D Friedman D GrudzinskiTermite Generated Naphthalene Hazards
Health risks of naphthalene; removal of naphthalene or "mothball" odors


Naphthalene odors may be caused by termites rather than from moth flakes or mothballs, and may be unsafe.

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

In this article series we describe the sources of mothball or naphthalene odors and give advice on how to get rid of mothball odors in buildings, building furnishings, clothing, or vehicles.

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?

Termites & Other Natural Sources of Naphthalene: Possible Hazards to Humans

Swarming Termite photo of Alates (C) InspectApedia.com Grudzinski D First reported by Chen in 1998, termites produce naphthalene (NPH) (in some spellings, napthalene) or possibly other volatile chemicals (fenchone) or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), as an insect repellent, in the course of building mud tubes and termite nests, including termite infestations in the wood components of some buildings. (Chen 1998, Bandowe 2009, Wilcke 2000).

Photo: a swarming, winged termite emerging from a hardwood floor of a termite-infested home.

[Click to enlarge any image]

Etymologists pose that a "natural" production of naphthalene by termites has the function of protecting the termite colony from their predators including some species of ants, bacteria, soil fungi, and microscopic nematode worms.

When a building has suffered significant termite infestation and damage, is it possible that the human (or other animal) occupants of the building will be exposed to significant naphthalene gases in building air without ever realizing that such exposure is taking place?

Possibly. (Though in our opinion and based on research to date, probably not).

Really? Termite-produced naphthalene off-gassing in buildings has been posed, somewhat speculatively in our opinion, as a health risk for people.

Researching termite and other natural sources of naphthalene in buildings, we found research confirming that naturally-generated naphthalene in termite nests, particularly formosan termite nests, occurs.

Naphthalene in termite nests probably serves to benefit the termites by discouraging the growth of some fungi and possibly by discouraging nematodes or other worms.

However, we have not found scholarly nor other authoritative research documenting that the (probably trace) levels of naphthalene that might be produced by termites infesting as building have actually been found to cause human illness.

Watch out: other human illnesses that might correlate with termite or other wood destroying insect infestation in buildings could include irritating airborne particles causing or contributing to asthma attacks, and pesticide poisoning from amateur or improperly applied chemicals or pesticides in or around the building.

See PESTICIDE EXPOSURE HAZARDS.

Other natural sources of naphthalene can include Muscodor vitigenus, an endophytic fungus (Daisy 2002).

Also see TERMITE IDENTIFICATION & CONTROL

Termite & Other Natural Sources of Naphthalene in Buildings

Termite identification sketch (C) Daniel Friedman


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