Many will remember the strong and aromatic smell given off by those strange white balls that sprouted from grandmothers’ drawers.
Impossible not to have been fascinated, as children, by those balls. Perfectly round with the appearance of candy.
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Everyone will have understood that it is precisely mothballs. An intense smelling substance capable of repelling moths.
Fans of the Mickey Mouse comics will remember well that one of the funniest characters. Eta Beta, he fed on mothballs. So it was, at least in the Italian version of the comic.
Still, mothballs are just a health hazard that can hide in the closet.
Naphthalene
Naphthalene was discovered in 1821 by John Kidd who named it so precisely because it was derived from naphtha.
It is a chemical element named naphthalene. A hydrocarbon industrially obtained from the distillation of tar, coal and oil.
Although it was widely used for domestic use, this substance was banned in Italy and Europe in 2008. From that moment it was no longer available in stores. But it is still purchasable on e-commerce sites.
Moths, animals who love dark environments that sneak into wardrobes, feeding on wool and causing holes in fabrics, were removed from the smell of mothballs.
Dangers
Mothballs are lethal if ingested. For this reason, if it still has some at home it should be kept away from children who could mistake it for candy. In addition to children, it should also be kept away from pets.
Furthermore, the substance from which mothballs is made is considered a suspected carcinogen by the scientific community. With Directive 2004/73 / EC the European Union classified naphthalene in category 3. That is, among the substances to be considered with suspicion due to possible carcinogenic effects in humans.
However, it was admitted that the research did not collect enough evidence to classify it in category 2.
However, it should be specified that the risk is greater following repeated exposure to the substance. While it reduces a lot if the exposures are sporadic.
In any case, it would be preferable to eliminate all the packages of mothballs still present to remove the health hazards that can hide in the closet.
To perfume cabinets and drawers with natural methods we recommend reading this article.
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(We remind you to carefully read the warnings regarding this article, which can be consulted who”)
