1.800.858.7378 npic@ace.orst.edu
We're open from 8:00AM to 12:00PM Pacific Time, Mon-Fri

• Health & Environment
  • Human Health
  • Animal Health
  • Safe Use Practices
  • Food Safety
  • Environment
    • Air
    • Water
    • Soil
    • Wildlife
    • Plants
• Pest Control
  • Identify Your Pest
  • Learn About Your Pest
  • Control Your Pest
  • Integrated Pest Management
• Pesticide Products
  • NPRO: Pesticide Product Search
  • Pesticide Ingredients
    • Active Ingredients
    • Other/Inert Ingredients
  • Low-Risk Pesticides
  • Organic Pesticide Ingredients
• Pesticide Incidents
  • Human Exposure
  • Pet Exposure
  • Environmental Incident
  • Illegal Pesticide Activity
  • Problem With Labels or Containers
• Emergency
  • Human Poisonings
  • Pet Poisoning
  • Spills and Contamination
  • Wildlife Poisoning / Environmental Incident
• 

You are here: NPIC Home Page Pesticide Ingredients Active Ingredients Naphthalene

Naphthalene is an aromatic hydrocarbon found in coal tar or crude oil. Naphthalene is used in the manufacture of plastics, resins, fuels, and dyes. It is also used as a fumigant insecticide that works by turning directly from a solid into a toxic vapor. This process is called sublimation. Most products containing naphthalene in the U.S. are used to control clothes moths in airtight containers.

General Questions about Naphthalene

What is naphthalene? What are some products that contain naphthalene? How does naphthalene work? How might I be exposed to naphthalene What are some signs and symptoms from a brief exposure to naphthalene? What happens to naphthalene when it enter the body? Is naphthalene likely to contribute to the development of cancer? Has anyone studied non-cancer effects from long-term exposure to naphthalene? Are children more sensitive to naphthalene than adults? What happens to naphthalene in the environment? Can naphthalene affect birds, fish, and other wildlife?

General Fact Sheet	Pesticides: Testing for Exposure Using the Clinical Laboratory Medical Case Profile
A mothball mishap? Podcast (1:32 min., 1.41MB)	A mothball mishap? Q & A

If you have questions about naphthalene, or any pesticide-related topic, please call NPIC at 1-800-858-7378 (8:00am - 12:00pm PST), or email at npic@ace.orst.edu.

Related Topics:

What are pests?

What are pesticides?

Please read our disclaimer | Contact us | About NPIC | En español

NPIC provides objective, science-based information about pesticides and pesticide-related topics to enable people to make informed decisions. NPIC is a cooperative agreement between Oregon State University and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (cooperative agreement #X8-83947901). The information in this publication does not in any way replace or supersede the restrictions, precautions, directions, or other information on the pesticide label or any other regulatory requirements, nor does it necessarily reflect the position of the U.S. EPA.