Naphthalene is a hydrocarbon produced by the distillation of coal tar and is an aromatic white crystalline substance. Naphthalene is the most abundant component in coal tar. It is used as an insect repellant and insect fumigant. The compound is used in the manufacture of celluloid, dyes, hydrogenated naphthalenes, oil fumes, smokeless powders and synthetic resins.
A breakthrough treatment raises hopes for rare bone disease. Palovarotene (Sohonos) has been recently approved by the FDA as a retinoid indicated for the reduction in volume of new heterotopic ossification in adults and pediatric patients aged 8 years and older for females and 10 years and older for males with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP). FOP is an ultra-rare progressive genetic disease effecting one in a million individuals. This first and only treatment is able to effectively reduce the formation of new abnormal bone in soft and connective tissues.