Yes. Mothballs are pesticide products, not ordinary air fresheners. Most contain either naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene. As the solid turns into vapor, that vapor kills moths in a sealed storage container—but it can also harm people. Risk depends on the ingredient, whether the exposure was swallowed, inhaled, or through skin contact, the amount, and how long exposure lasted.
Why mothballs can be dangerous
Mothballs are sold as balls, flakes, or cakes. Their active chemicals slowly change from a solid into a gas (sublimation). The intended use is inside a closed container holding stored clothing, where the concentrated vapor controls moths and larvae. Using them in open rooms, attics, vehicles, or other spaces outside the pesticide label can expose people and pets to the vapor.
People can also be exposed without swallowing a mothball. Naphthalene, for example, can enter the body through breathing contaminated air, eating the product, or skin contact. Clothing or linens stored with mothballs may retain vapors.
The ingredient matters
| Active ingredient | What is known about exposure | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Naphthalene | Acute exposure by inhalation, ingestion, or skin contact has been associated with destruction of red blood cells (hemolytic anemia), liver injury, and neurological effects. Reported symptoms can include headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, confusion, jaundice, seizures, and coma. | People with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency are particularly susceptible. These effects are associated with acute exposure; they do not mean every contact causes them. |
| Paradichlorobenzene | Small accidental exposures are usually well tolerated but may cause irritation, nausea, vomiting, or headache. Large ingestions and chronic exposure have been associated with poor balance, muscle weakness, behavioral changes, and red-cell destruction. | It is not interchangeable with naphthalene. Check the product label to identify which chemical is present. |
How exposure happens
Swallowing a mothball
Ingestion is a poisoning concern even when the amount seems small. A mothball can continue releasing chemical as it moves through the digestive system, and the risk cannot be judged reliably from the ball’s size alone.
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Breathing vapor
Vapor accumulates when mothballs are used in an enclosed area. Naphthalene exposure can also occur from air around clothing or bedding stored with the product. Odor alone does not establish how much someone absorbed, and lack of odor does not prove that an area is safe.
Skin contact
Handling the product or touching contaminated materials can provide another exposure route, particularly with naphthalene. Wash affected skin and follow product-label first-aid directions; obtain exposure-specific advice if symptoms develop.
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Symptoms that need attention
Possible effects vary by chemical and dose. Seek urgent medical help for trouble breathing, seizures, collapse, severe confusion, loss of consciousness, marked weakness, or yellowing of the skin or eyes. Nausea, vomiting, headache, irritation, or unusual fatigue after exposure also warrants prompt advice, especially in a child, infant, pregnant person, or someone with G6PD deficiency.
Do not use the symptom list to diagnose poisoning or to decide that an exposure is harmless. Some serious effects can develop after the initial contact, and the sources do not establish a single safe dose.
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What to do if someone swallowed one
- Remove the product from the person’s mouth if it can be done safely, and keep the package or label available.
- Give a small amount of water, as Poison Control advises.
- Contact Poison Control promptly. In the United States, call 1-800-222-1222 or use webPOISONCONTROL. The service is free, confidential, and available 24 hours a day.
- Call emergency services immediately for breathing problems, seizures, collapse, or an unresponsive person. Do not wait for online advice in those circumstances.
Do not induce vomiting or give home “neutralizing” remedies unless a poison specialist or clinician specifically instructs you. Outside the United States, use your country’s poison center or emergency number.
Children, infants, and higher-risk people
Store mothballs where children and pets cannot reach them, and never place them loose in a room or near a sleeping area. Naphthalene has been linked to hemolytic anemia in infants exposed to treated fabrics. ATSDR describes a historical series involving 21 infants, 3 to 90 days old; that count is not an incidence rate or a measure of risk from typical current use.
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G6PD deficiency increases susceptibility to naphthalene-related red-cell destruction. If a child or someone with known G6PD deficiency may have been exposed, contact Poison Control or a clinician even if symptoms are not yet obvious.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What cancer claims do—and do not—show
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies naphthalene as a Group C, possible human carcinogen. EPA also states that available data are inadequate to establish a causal relationship between naphthalene exposure and cancer in humans. That hazard classification is not evidence that ordinary, label-compliant mothball use causes cancer.
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Use mothballs only as the label permits
- Check the package for the EPA registration number and the listed active ingredient.
- Follow the pesticide label’s directions, including the required closed-container setting.
- Do not use unregistered or illegal products, or substitute mothballs for an air freshener, deodorizer, wildlife repellent, or room treatment.
- Keep the original package, and wash or air items according to the label before using them again.
- For clothing storage, consider clean, dry garments in a sealed storage bag without adding pesticide unless the product label specifically permits that setup. A bag does not by itself make pesticide exposure safe or replace label directions.
How to judge the seriousness of an exposure
Tell Poison Control or a clinician the product’s active ingredient, whether it was swallowed, inhaled, or touched, the approximate amount, when it happened, the person’s age and weight, and whether the product was used in a sealed container. There is no universal safe amount that can be inferred from anecdotal reports.
For context, ATSDR describes a report involving 300–500 mothballs distributed in a home where anemia was reported among eight adults and one child. The source did not identify exposure levels or the nature of the anemia, so the report cannot be used as a safe or unsafe threshold.
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