10/10/13
Many people still store their seasonal clothing with sachets or packets of mothballs in an effort to prevent moths or mold from attacking and ruining their clothes. The chemical often used in mothballs, naphthalene, is possibly carcinogenic to humans if ingested or inhaled, and it can cause everything from liver to neurological damage. If you must use mothballs, avoid storing any kind of infant or children clothing with them; children who wear clothes that have been stored with mothballs risk absorbing the dangerous toxins through their skin. Better yet, don’t use mothballs at all. Natural alternatives, like cedar and lavender, have proven to be effective in deterring moths.