"A team of pediatricians has called for a ban on naphthalene, used in mothballs, after the death of a baby and catastrophic brain injuries to two others.

Warnings not to wrap young children in textiles which have been stored with naphthalene-filled mothballs are mandatory, but health experts say this precaution is inadequate.

In a letter appearing in today's Medical Journal of Australia, four clinical directors of neonatal units in Australia and New Zealand call for a total ban of the toxic chemical for household use, as the European Union did two years ago.

The group also submitted a report to the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, after more than 100 reports were received by NSW and Victorian poison information centres annually on children affected by naphthalene-based moth repellents."

Kelly Burke reports for the Sydney Morning Herald February 7, 2011. [2]