Camphor Poisoning Symptoms and What to Do First

If someone has swallowed camphor, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 now. Call 911 instead if the person has a seizure, has trouble breathing, or cannot be awakened. Early signs are burning in the mouth and stomach, nausea and vomiting. Seizures can follow within the hour. Do not wait for symptoms to show.

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Emergency box. Seizure, trouble breathing, collapse, or cannot be awakened: call 911. Anything else after swallowing, skin or eye exposure, or heavy fumes: Poison Control, 1-800-222-1222, free, or the online tool at triage.webpoisoncontrol.org. Have the container, the person's age and weight, how much, and when ready. For a pet, call a veterinarian or Pet Poison Helpline now.

First steps, in order

Call first. Poison Control lists the number as 1-800-222-1222 and calls it free and confidential (poison.org). The site says to call 911 for a seizure, trouble breathing, or if the person cannot be awakened.
Keep the container and the label. Camphor products differ widely, and many contain other ingredients such as menthol, eucalyptus oil or salicylates that add their own toxicity. The poison center needs the actual product.
Know the weight and the time. The referral threshold is per kilogram of body weight, so the poison center cannot judge a dose without weight, amount and time of swallowing.
Do not induce vomiting on your own. The AAPCC guideline says ipecac syrup should not be used for camphor, and that activated charcoal is not recommended for camphor alone (Manoguerra et al., 2006). Follow whatever the poison center tells you.
Skin: the guideline says to wash thoroughly with soap and water. Eyes: irrigate and call Poison Control. Fumes: move to fresh air.

If you are reading this because it just happened, stop reading and call.

Symptoms and when they appear

Camphor is absorbed quickly, so poisoning tends to show up fast. The two main medical sources agree on the general timeline.

Time after swallowing	What has been reported	Source
About 5 to 20 minutes	Burning in the mouth or stomach, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, a strong camphor odor	Royal Children's Hospital (5 to 15 minutes); AAPCC guideline (within 20 minutes in many cases)
About 30 to 90 minutes	Convulsions, often the first sign of significant toxicity; confusion, delirium, restlessness; muscle twitching	AAPCC guideline (as early as 30 minutes); RCH (usually within 90 minutes)
After a seizure	Slowed or shallow breathing, loss of consciousness	RCH, Khine et al.
Rarely, hours later	Seizures or coma up to 6 hours after ingestion in a few case reports	AAPCC guideline
Within about 24 hours	Clinical toxicity typically resolves in people who recover without complications	RCH; AAPCC guideline

The guideline also warns that severe symptoms such as convulsions or coma can develop 30 to 60 minutes after swallowing, often without warning or earlier symptoms. That is the main reason for calling before anything appears. It also notes that in a retrospective review of 182 camphor exposures, no patient developed symptoms more than 6 hours after swallowing, and that people who are symptom-free at 4 hours are unlikely to develop toxicity (Royal Children's Hospital guideline and Manoguerra et al.). The poison center, not you, decides who can be watched at home.

How much is dangerous

There is no single safe number, but the sources give thresholds that poison centers use:

Gastrointestinal irritation and central nervous system depression may occur above 10 mg/kg. Serious toxicity has been reported above 30 mg/kg, and the RCH guideline says 0.5 to 1 g is considered a lethal oral dose in children.
The AAPCC guideline recommends emergency department referral for anyone who swallowed more than 30 mg/kg, who has moderate to severe symptoms, or who swallowed it deliberately or was given it maliciously, whatever the amount.
A case report from Turkey described a 2-year-old with generalized seizures about an hour after swallowing roughly a teaspoon of camphor from a chest rub, estimated at 66 mg/kg (Tekin et al., Turk Pediatri Ars, 2015).
A study of 15 children in India with seizures after a camphor-containing herbal liquid recorded amounts of 2 to 5 drops or 0.5 to 2.0 mL in most cases. The oldest child seized after only 3 drops. The liquid also contained eucalyptus oil, menthol and other ingredients, so the study could not separate camphor, and it found no correlation between amount and onset (Bandi et al., Indian Pediatrics, 2021).

The practical reading: a few drops of a concentrated camphor-containing liquid has caused seizures in children, and neither a parent nor a label can be trusted to say "too little to matter." Treat any swallowing by a child as a call, even for a small taste. Percent camphor is rarely printed on essential oil or imported camphor products, so the poison center will usually be working from the product name and your estimate.

What Poison Control will ask you

Having the answers ready saves minutes. Expect questions about:

the person's age and weight, because the threshold is per kilogram;
the exact product name, any other ingredients on the label, and the container size;
how much could have been swallowed, with a generous guess if you cannot be sure, such as how much is missing from a bottle;
when it happened, and whether the person has vomited, coughed, been drowsy, shaky or confused;
other medicines or substances taken, since the guideline says co-ingestions can change management.

If you do not know the amount, say so. The guideline treats malicious or self-harm exposure as an emergency department referral whatever the amount, so tell the poison center if that is possible. Do not hide it.

Skin, eyes and fumes

Most toxic exposure is by swallowing, but the Royal Children's Hospital guideline notes that camphor is also readily absorbed from the skin. A 2009 cluster of three toddlers in the Bronx included one child with seizures from repeated rubbing of camphor on the skin (Khine et al.). For skin the guideline recommends thorough washing with soap and water, with symptoms judged by the poison center. Eyes are irrigated per poison center procedures. For fumes the person is moved to fresh air, and the guideline says symptoms are unlikely to progress once the person is out of the exposure. Anyone with symptoms goes to a healthcare facility.

What happens in the emergency department

There is no antidote. Care is supportive: monitoring, and a benzodiazepine for seizures, which the AAPCC guideline grades as the recommended choice for convulsions. Children in the case reports were observed and recovered, though some needed ventilation support for breathing depression. For people with no symptoms, the RCH guideline advises observation for 4 hours before discharge.

Who is most at risk

Young children. A 2017 paper cites 11,521 camphor exposures in US children under 5 reported to poison centers in 2013 (Bazzano et al.). Authors of a Paris case report note young children lack enzymes to process camphor, so it can accumulate (Guilbert et al.). An FDA warning in June 2006 about the Triaminic Vapor Patch, which contained camphor, eucalyptus oil and menthol, followed accidental ingestion by children (Drug Topics). Adults are poisoned too. Of the three US fatal cases the AAPCC guideline reviewed for 1990 to 2003, all involved combination products and two were adults, one abusing a product and one a suicide; the third was a 5-year-old given a camphor and menthol cream mixed in tea.

Common mistakes

Waiting to see. The sources describe seizures arriving 30 to 60 minutes after swallowing with no earlier warning. Calling early costs nothing.
Assuming a small taste is safe. The Indian pediatric series recorded seizures after as little as 3 drops of a camphor-containing liquid, and no correlation between amount and onset.
Trying home first aid. The guideline advises against ipecac syrup and, for camphor alone, against activated charcoal. Beyond that, let the poison center direct what to do at home.
Leaving out other products. Chest rubs, inhalers and patches may be involved too; mention every one.
Driving a seizing person yourself. A seizure is a 911 call. The guideline says convulsing patients should be transported to an emergency department by emergency medical providers.

Prevention, briefly

Keep every camphor product, including balms, inhalers and mothball-style blocks, locked and out of reach. Do not decant them into drink bottles. Read Is camphor oil safe? for the wider risk picture, camphor oil and children for household guidance, and can you ingest camphor oil for why the answer is a firm no. Dogs and cats are also at risk; see camphor oil and pets. Other effects are in camphor oil side effects.

This page is general information. It is not medical advice and it does not replace Poison Control, a physician or an emergency service.