Govt urged to ban naphthalene-based pest control products after Bulgaria pulls PH mothballs

By: InterAksyon.com January 3, 2014 10:14 AM

Bug-Off mothballs (http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/images/rapex/2013-w51/2013-w51_14302-2f.jpg)

InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5

MANILA, Philippines -- An environmental and health watchdog is urging the government to ban naphthalene-based pest control products after Bulgaria ordered the withdrawal from markets of mothballs imported from the Philippines.

The withdrawal in Bulgaria of mothballs imported from the Philippines should be a wakeup call for makers and users of naphthalene-based pest control products, Thony Dizon, coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalitions Project Protect, said in a statement released Friday.

EcoWaste cited information from the European Unions Rapid Alert System for Non-Food Dangerous Products that Bulgaria had recently pulled from the markets Bug-Off Naphthalene Balls imported from the Philippines.

It also pointed out that, the European Union, which includes Bulgaria, has banned naphthalene mothballs as a moth repellent product since 2008.

Despite the health concerns that prompted European countries to ban naphthalene balls, these cheap repellents against moths and silverfish bugs are still widely available in the local market, Dizon said.

Dizon noted that mothballs sold in stores even warn that, naphthalene may cause haemolytic crisis, or the rapid destruction of large numbers of red blood cells causing acute anemia but those sold on the streets have no labels or warnings.

The EcoWaste officer said the mothball brand pulled by Bulgaria poses a chemical risk because it contains pure naphthalene, which is toxic by inhalation, ingestion and dermal absorption, quoting from a notification published on RAPEXs website last December 27.

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Govt urged to ban naphthalene-based pest control products after Bulgaria pulls PH mothballs