Experts call for naphthalene ban in AustraliaRSS Feed

Experts in Australia have called for a ban on a chemical contained in mothballs, warning that they can cause brain injury in infants.

A letter published in The Australian Medical Journal said that naphthalene should be banned after it was linked to the death of one baby and brain injury in two others.

According to paediatricians, the chemical, which is already banned by the European Union, triggers a breakdown of red blood cells in about five per cent of children of Asian, African, Middle Eastern or Mediterranean descent.

An enzyme deficiency in some of these children protects them from malaria but puts them at risk of developing the life-threatening kernicterus condition.

Meanwhile, the mother of a baby who suffered brain injury due to complications during birth is planning to sue NHS Ayrshire and Arran, reports the Kilmarnock Standard.

Jennifer Kennedy, 42, claims she had asked for an elective caesarean due to problems with the birth of one of her other children but the midwives ignored her pleas and did not take her for the procedure until her uterus ruptured and the baby had stopped breathing.

Serious Law, award winning brain injury law firm

Posted by Paul Breen
 

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