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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2007) | Mothballs make you fat and ugly, so don't eat them. if you do, there is a good chance of being poisned. Their use when clothing is stored out-of-season gave rise to the colloquial usage of the terms mothballed and put into mothballs to refer to anything which is put into storage or whose operation is suspended. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ...
Composition and safety Older mothballs consisted primarily of naphthalene, but due to naphthalene's flammability, modern mothballs use 1,4-dichlorobenzene instead. Both of these ingredients have a strong, pungent odor often associated strongly with mothballs. Camphor, an insect repellent, can be used in mothballs also. R-phrases , , S-phrases , , , , Flash point 79 - 87 °C Autoignition temperature 525 °C Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa) Infobox disclaimer and references Naphthalene (not to be confused with naphtha) (also known as naphthalin, naphthaline, moth ball, tar...
R-phrases , , S-phrases , , , , Flash point 66 °C RTECS number CZ4550000 Supplementary data page Structure and properties n, εr, etc. ...
R-phrases 11-20/21/22-36/37/38 S-phrases 16-26-36 RTECS number EX1260000 (R) EX1250000 (S) Supplementary data page Structure and properties n, εr, etc. ...
The idea with both chemicals is to kill moths and moth larvae with the fumes. Both naphthalene and paradichlorobenzene sublimate, meaning they transition from a solid straight to a gas. The gas is toxic to the moths.
For either of these chemicals to be effective, they need to be placed with the clothing in a sealed container so the fumes can build up and kill the moths. In a sealed atmosphere like this, the fumes are not harmful to people because they are contained. The main threat would occur when opening the containers, or from wearing clothes immediately after opening (especially a problem for infants). A solution is to open the containers outside and let the clothes hang and air out for a day before wearing.
Adolescents have recently been found to use mothballs for huffing.[1][2] Mothballs have also been found to be a carcinogen (i.e. a cancer-causing agent). Volatile substance abuse or solvent abuse (called huffing) is the practice of inhaling volatile substances for their psychoactive effects. ...
Other uses Mothballs can also be used as a snake repellent. Mothballs (or sulfur) is usually used along with the aid of naphtha for these purposes. When mixed together, the snake sampling the air senses its acrid stench and its scent sampling is overloaded by the stench. It can't sense prey or danger as well with this smell, so it turns away. Put the mothballs around the perimeter of your yard leaving an "escape" for the snakes to get away or they will be locked in your yard. Caution should be exercised, as mothballs are not child or pet friendly and they can kill some types of plants. Rain or water will disintegrate the mothballs, so frequent reapplication will be necessary.
Mothballs are also said to keep silverfish away from wall paper by placing in 4 corners of a room, and/or mice away from composts (the latter unverified).
See also A reserve fleet or (less formally) mothball fleet is a collection of naval vessels that are fully equipped for fighting but are not currently needed. ...
References
External links Look up Mothball in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 151 languages. ...
Purdue redirects here. ...
Aerial photo of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. ...
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