What are the health risks? Mothballs benefit us in many ways, but just as much as gain it is, a drawback it is. Mothballs are stored in air tight areas to protect our attire but they are made up of unhealthy toxic chemicals which collect up spreading into our clothes and soon into our surrounding habitat, in which many inhale in the sweep of one breathe. Not only do they damage us but to almost any living thing.
Every breathe has an effect, may it be small, or may to be big either way, it kills the inside of you. Any contact made with naphthalene including inhalation, ingestion, and physical contact forces destruction inside your body because you have now made interaction with the insecticide in the mothballs (Npic,13) (EPA,13). At first you won’t notice but as time will go the simple symptoms will occur such as aching of the head, vomiting, and diarrhea, but it will soon change into more serious symptoms which include nausea, blood in the urine, confusion, anemia, jaundice, convulsions, and eventually can set you in coma (EPA,13). Any of these symptoms mean a possibility of destruction in the liver; haemolytic anemia, in infants, neurological damage, and, cataracts (Harrar, 14) (EPA,13). It has a major effect on mothers and their babies during pregnancy, it affects the bloodstream of the mother and the unborn baby, the toxin can be transferred through breast milk and blankets new born babies are wrapped (Kayne,14) (Medline Plus, 14). Testing’s have found these symptoms and destruction not only happen to humans but to animals as well by just a little exposure to naphthalene. (EPA, 13) The list does not stop there, animal studies have suggested many individuals that work with naphthalene vapours have a high chance of cancer risk (Npic, 14) (EPA, 13). Expose to this specific chemical can having burning in the mouth, breathing problems, coughing, Changes in alertness, yellowing of skin, and Abdominal pain.(Perez ,14) |
“Seek immediate medical help! Do NOT make a person throw up unless told to do so by poison control or a health care professional. If the chemical is on the skin or in the eyes, flush with lots of water for at least 15 minutes. If the chemical was swallowed, immediately give the person water or milk, unless instructed otherwise by a health care provider. Do NOT give water or milk if the patient is unconscious (has a decreased level of alertness)”. (Medline Plus, Heading #4, Home Care “Paradichlorobenzene poisoning”, 14)
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