Naphthalene

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Naphthalene

Alternative Names:

Moth balls; Moth flakes; Camphor tar
Before Calling Emergency:

Determine the following information:

the patient's age, weight, and condition
name of product (as well as the ingredients and strength if known)
the time it was swallowed
the amount swallowed

Poison Control, or a local emergency number:

text continues below

If you suspect possible poisoning, seek emergency medical care immediately.

Call 1-800-222-1222 anywhere in the United States. This national hotline number will let you talk to experts in poisoning. They will give you further instructions.

This is a free and confidential service. All local poison control centers in the U.S. use this national number. You should call if you have any questions about poisoning or poison prevention. It does NOT need to be an emergency. You can call for any reason, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Take any containers with you to the emergency room, if possible.

What to expect at the emergency room:

The patient will be given medications to treat the symptoms andmay be forced to vomit. A procedure called gastric lavage may also be performed.

Expectations (prognosis):

If the patienthas convulsions and coma, the outlook for recovery isnot good. Those who do recover takeseveral weeks or longer to overcomesome of the toxic effects.

References:

Roberts JR, Hedges JR. Clinical Procedures in Emergency Medicine. 4^th Ed.Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders; 2004;749-766.

Ford MD, Clinical Toxicology. 1^st Ed. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders; 2001.