Inhaling Mothballs
July 28th 2006 00:35
Inhaling Mothballs
Yesterday, an SMH report told of a case in France where teenagers had sniffed the air from bags of mothballs to get high. One 18 year old actually chewed half a mothball a day for 2 months. Both girls were hospitalised for months, with symptoms of scaly legs, unsteadiness and mental sluggishness.
The purpose of mothballs is to prevent moth larva from getting into clothing. They contain a substance called paradichlorobenzene, which is also found in air fresheners and insect repellents. Inhaling this substance can lead to severe anaemia, liver and kidney failure.
Doctors said that the high which is experienced when inhaling mothballs is at a "dangerous" level, and that the process is probably under-reported. Lionel Feuillet, of the Hospital of Timone in Marseille, France, says that “since young people usually deny practicing self-intoxication, the incidence of this type of recreational activity is probably underestimated”.
Image part of the GNU Free Documentation License
Yesterday, an SMH report told of a case in France where teenagers had sniffed the air from bags of mothballs to get high. One 18 year old actually chewed half a mothball a day for 2 months. Both girls were hospitalised for months, with symptoms of scaly legs, unsteadiness and mental sluggishness.
Doctors said that the high which is experienced when inhaling mothballs is at a "dangerous" level, and that the process is probably under-reported. Lionel Feuillet, of the Hospital of Timone in Marseille, France, says that “since young people usually deny practicing self-intoxication, the incidence of this type of recreational activity is probably underestimated”.
Image part of the GNU Free Documentation License
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