WHICH ONE IS DANGEROUS: MOTH OR MOTH REPELLENT NAPHTHALENE?

Year 2017, Volume: Volume 2 Issue: İssue 1 (1) - 2.İnternational Congress Of Forensic Toxicology, 311 - 311, 16.02.2017

Aysel Kekillioğlu , Feyza Keçici Gamze Durak

Abstract

Naphthalene is a white solid that evaporates easily. It
is also called mothballs, moth flakes, white tar, and tar camphor.  The major consumer products made from
naphthalene are moth repellents, in the form of mothballs or crystals, and
toilet deodorant blocks. The major commercial use of naphthalene is to make
other chemicals used in making polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics. Naphthalene
has a strong but not unpleasant smell. Its taste is unknown, but it must not be
unpleasant since children have eaten mothballs and deodorant blocks.
Naphthalene enters the environment from industrial uses, from its use as a moth
repellent, from the burning of wood or tobacco, and from accidental spills.
Naphthalene at hazardous wastesites and landfills can dissolve in water and be
present in drinking water. Naphthalene can become weakly attached to soil or
pass through the soil particles into underground water. Most of the naphthalene
entering the environment is from the burning of woods and fossil fuels in the
home. The second greatest release of naphthalene is through the use of moth
repellents. Individuals exposed to naphthalene such as inhalation of
contaminated air, ingestion of contaminated groundwater used as a source of
drinking water, ingestion of contaminated food, and dermal contact with
contaminated soils or products treated with the compound. Naphthalene and waste
containing naphthalene are classified as hazardous wastes by EPA. Generators of
waste containing this contaminant must conform to EPA regulations for
treatment, storage, and disposal. Therefore, harmful and toxic effects of
naphthalene that is used to get rid of moths is discussed as the main objective
and content of this work.

Keywords

WHICH ONE IS DANGEROUS: MOTH OR MOTH REPELLENT NAPHTHALENE?

References

• Aysel Kekillioğlu, Feyza Keçici, Gamze Durak
• Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biology, 50300, Nevşehir, Turkey