Mothballs

Does anyone use mothballs as an insect deterrent in an
archives/special collection setting? A colleague suggested them for
"fumigating" new arrivals not yet accessioned into the collection,
and as an all-purpose bug deterrent in *all* unprocessed boxes.

I tried it yesterday,  and when I came in this morning I could smell
mothballs clear to the front door of the library. As my reading
room/vault/processing area is all the same room (this is a small
private school archives), I'm concerned about possible adverse
effects of inhaling the naphthalene fumes.  I used about 3
ounces--12 to 15 small balls total--in a 15-by-20-foot space.

For that matter, has anyone found them to be useful as a deterrent,
or is that just an "archival legend"?

Jan Zastrow, Archivist
Iolani School Archives
Honolulu, Hawaii

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 9:30
                Distributed: Friday, September 29, 1995
                        Message Id: cdl-9-30-017
                                  ***