Mothballs

Mothballs are small balls of chemical pesticide and deodorant, sometimes used when storing clothing and other articles susceptible to damage from mold or moth larvae (especially clothes moths like Tineola bisselliella). Use of mothballs when clothing is stored out-of-season has given rise to the colloquial usage of the terms "" and "put into mothballs", to refer to anything which is put into storage or whose operation is suspended.

Older mothballs consisted primarily of naphthalene, but due to naphthalene's flammability, many modern mothball formulations instead use 1,4-dichlorobenzene. The latter formulation may be somewhat less flammable, although both chemicals have the same NFPA 704 rating for flammability. The latter chemical is also variously labeled as para-dichlorobenzene, p-dichlorobenzene, pDCB, or PDB, making it harder to identify unless all these synonyms are known to a potential purchaser. Both of these formulations have the strong, pungent, sickly-sweet odor often associated with mothballs. Both naphthalene and 1,4-dichlorobenzene undergo sublimation, meaning that they evaporate from a solid state directly into a gas; this gas is toxic to moths and moth larvae.

Naphthalene and 1,4-dichlorobenzene should not be used together because the mixture may cause damage to items being preserved.

Due to the health risks of 1,4-dichlorobenzene, and flammability of naphthalene, other substances like camphor are sometimes used (though camphor has its own toxicity issues).

In addition to repelling or killing insects such as moths and silverfish, mothballs have been suggested as a repellent to keep away mice, snakes, or other pests, and for use as a stovepipe cleaner. Older-formula mothballs have also been used by drag racers to enhance the octane rating of fuel, by dissolving the mothballs in some of the fuel and filtering out the remains with a filter paper.

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Wikipedia