paradichlorobenzene

Like other boys growing up in the 1960s, he collected and killed butterflies, stowing them in drawers treated with an insecticide, paradichlorobenzene, the strong-smelling substance used in old mothballs, which also repels mites and beetles.

“I used paradichlorobenzene in my butterfly collection. It’s the worst, the most carcinogenic of the lot. It’s in my bedrooms, my store boxes, cabinets, everything. My mother used to complain about ‘that horrible stink coming from your room’.

Where pesticides are involved, the chemicals that figure most prominently in the case histories are DDT, lindane, benzene hexachloride, the nitrophenols, the common moth crystal paradichlorobenzene, chlordane, and, of course, the solvents in which they are carried.

The product is suspected of containing the toxic chemical paradichlorobenzene, which can lead to vomiting, diarrhea, respiratory distress, damage to the nervous system and death if ingested.

Best weapons against the moth are sunlight, moth balls or flakes, paradichlorobenzene.