Candy colored and heart shaped moth balls misleading to kids

Mothballs, not a topic you expect to hear about in the news, but today is a rainy day and the Ministry of Health did fax us a warning about the health dangers of swallowing moth balls. Apparently there is a particular brand of moth balls, Power Moth Balls manufactured by the Jieling Corporation in China, is the source of the controversy. Apparently these mothballs come in a variety of colours such as pink, green and yellow. Those colors combined with various shapes such as hearts, give the mothballs the appearance of sweets. The Ministry feels that small children may unwittingly swallow and digest the product. Doctor Fernando Cuellar, Intensivist at the Belize Medical Associates, highlighted the danger of swallowing the substance.

Dr. Fernando Cuellar, Intensivist
“It’s not—it wouldn’t only be a child because of course the child will be the most vulnerable person but it has the potential to be quite dangerous and even lethal. It can kill you if swallowed in large quantities. The other unfortunate uses of moth balls are people use it to sniff and get highs from—I hope I’m not giving anybody any ideas but we have known of such uses. But if ingested, children are the most vulnerable especially the one’s we see advertised, they are almost candy like, or marshmallows, or even juju and it can cause brain damage, kidney problems, blood problems and unfortunately to death. It is a whole wide range of complications of anybody ingesting or eating.”

Jose Sanchez
“Can they cause cancer?”

Dr. Fernando Cuellar
“Yes, they can cause cancer. It’s been proven because of the ingredient that it carries.”

Jose Sanchez
“So essentially you just have to make sure that kids don’t have access to this.”

Dr. Fernando Cuellar
“Yes, try to make it as safe as possible from kids and take them to the nearest healthcare center or hospital if there is any suspicion that anybody has just swallowed or ingested or taken or eaten any of these products.”

The active ingredient is paradichlorobenzene or dichlorobenzene. Because Moth balls are carcinogens, the Ministry of Health advises that they are not intended for oral consumption; children should not be allowed to handle them; and adults should store them in an area inaccessible by children. We did a check and found out that this particular brand is illegal to import in the United States.