Mothballs can cause brain damage in children

A group of Australian pediatricians have called on the Government to issue a ban on the sale of camphor containing toxic naphthalene after a child died and two other children suffered brain damage due to contaminated with this substance.

In an open letter published in Medical Journal of Australia , the top 4 brain hospital directors in Australia and New Zealand called for a complete ban on camphor types used in Oceania territory. It is known that the European Union has also used naphthalene-containing camphor since 2008.

Dr. William Tarnow-Mordi, a pediatric specialist at the University of Sydney, said: ' A large amount of red blood cells will be destroyed when children wear clothes with camphor. If children are exposed to camphor for a long time, they may have anemia related to anemia '.

In the past 3 years, this group of doctors has statistics that at least three children have suffered from brain diseases, in which, a case of death due to contact with clothes with camphor. The other two children have a disorder that destroys red blood cells, leading to brain damage.

Recently, the United States and Canada conducted an examination of camphor safety for human health. Although the results are not given in detail, these two countries have requested that products that use camphor need to change the way of packing camphor and change the notes on the product.

In Vietnam, General Director of the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality (Ministry of Science and Technology) Nguyen Quy Viet said that there is no agency managing this product.

According to Mr. Nguyen Huy Nga - Director of the Department of Health Environmental Management, Ministry of Health, synthetic camphor from naphthalene is a chemical and must wait for the regulations to guide the implementation of the Chemical Law to initially manage products. Products.

He also said that toxic naphthalene was included in the list of banned household and medical insecticides in 2008.

Naphthalene is an organic substance that is very toxic to humans and is often used to produce camphor or dyes. This chemical can cause cancer in humans and animals. In addition, Naphthalene may also cause cataracts in humans, jaundice, brain damage due to anemia in children and infants.